Advice to the Players

by Bruce Bonafede

FULL LENGTH. 90 minutes, no intermission.
The shorter version of ADVICE TO THE PLAYERS received the Heideman Award at Actor Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival in 1985. It was then expanded to a 90-minute no-intermission full-length, which was produced at the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays in 1986. The published script is available through Samuel French.

Art and politics collide in this...

FULL LENGTH. 90 minutes, no intermission.
The shorter version of ADVICE TO THE PLAYERS received the Heideman Award at Actor Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival in 1985. It was then expanded to a 90-minute no-intermission full-length, which was produced at the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays in 1986. The published script is available through Samuel French.

Art and politics collide in this fictionalized account of an actual event, telling the story of two celebrated black South African actors who have traveled to America to perform but are caught up in the world's boycott of their country's apartheid system--a system they have struggled all their lives to overcome.

The published script is available here: https://www.samuelfrench.com/s/1072/advice-to-the-players

Or contact the author regarding production opportunities.

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Advice to the Players

Recommended by

  • Paul Donnelly: Advice to the Players by Bruce Bonafede
    “

    This play explores the terrible dilemma faced by two black South African actors who are asked, cajoled and ultimately threatened with dire retribution to force them to cancel a planned American performance in order to comply with a boycott of the apartheid regime. Complex and distressing arguments about artistic integrity, racial dynamics in both the U.S. and South Africa, and social responsibility are presented with clarity, urgency and bracing humor. While bringing an historical conflict to stirring life, this play illuminates dilemmas that resonate with equal urgency today.

    This play explores the terrible dilemma faced by two black South African actors who are asked, cajoled and ultimately threatened with dire retribution to force them to cancel a planned American performance in order to comply with a boycott of the apartheid regime. Complex and distressing arguments about artistic integrity, racial dynamics in both the U.S. and South Africa, and social responsibility are presented with clarity, urgency and bracing humor. While bringing an historical conflict to stirring life, this play illuminates dilemmas that resonate with equal urgency today.

    ”

Development History

  • Reading, New Playwrights Theatre, Washington DC, 1983
  • Reading, New Playwrights Theatre, Washington DC, 1982
  • Reading, Washington Playwrights Unit, 1981

Production History

  • Professional, Philadelphia Theatre for New Plays, 1986
  • Professional, Actors Theatre of Louisville, 1985
  • Professional, Actors Theatre of Louisville, 1984

Awards

  • Heideman Award
    Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville
    Winner
    1985