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.