The New York Times calls him as one of the greatest living scriptwriters in the English world, and The New Yorker contends that he is a most appropriate candidate for a Nobel Prize in Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize. Since the 1960s, South African playwright Athol Fugard (pictured below) has become an active and powerful voice fighting for human rights in his country.

In the early days, he had to stage his plays in a zoo's former snake pit to avoid the attention of authorities, who forbade people of different colors from working together.

Later on, he was only able to publish and produce works outside his country. Despite these obstacles, his plays have been performed around the world and played a key role in bringing down apartheid in South Africa.

In September and October, three of Fugard's plays - The Island, My Children! My Africa!, and The Train Driver - will be put on by Chen Wencong International Theater Company in Shanghai, with actors from China, South Africa, Ghana and Mongolia.

It will mark the first time Fugard's plays have been staged on the Chinese mainland. They will be performed at the outdoor KFS Music Box beside Shanghai Culture Square.

Idealism, passion and inspiration

"What I appreciate most is the idealism revealed in Fugard's work," said Chen Wencong, founder and director of the theater company. "When I read his scripts, my hair stands on end. They're so moving and inspiring."

Chen will direct My Children! My Africa!, and The Train Driver. The former play, a realistic tragedy, tells the story of a black teacher and his students - one white and the other black - during the apartheid era. The latter follows a self-reproaching driver who is plagued by the possibility that he caused a death.

The Island follows the story of two prisoners at the notorious Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. It starts out as a comedy, but by the end delivers a profound message.

It will be directed by Pakistani-British director Shahzad A. Jan, who holds a PhD in modern history from Cambridge University and won a national award as one of the UK's best emerging talents in theater directing.

For Athol Fugard, good theater pieces have to be indefinitely enjoyable, profoundly provocative and wonderfully moving, sentiments with which Chen says he agrees.

"We need good plays," Chen told the Global Times.

He recently left his position as China manager of the Broadway Asia Company to devote himself to putting on the kind of plays he wants to see.

"I said to myself, if I can't do the plays I hope to see, I'd better leave the industry. Now that I am engaged in it, I have no choice but to make it worth-while," he said.

Posters for each of the Athol Fugard's plays to be staged in Shanghai from September to October Photos: Courtesy of Shanghai Culture Square

From Africa to China

One of Chen's priorities is making the meanings of the dramas clear despite cultural boundaries. To achieve this, he has made some adaptations.

Chen sees The Train Driver as having the potential to be just as inspiring for Chinese audiences as it has been for South Africans, as it's about a confessional attitude toward the misdoings of each person or country.

For China, which had a miserable experience during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76,) people may face up to the tragic history rather than forget it.

In My Children! My Africa!, Chen will substitute the character of the white student with a Chinese actress to make the play better resonate with local audiences.

In addition, he introduced a Mongolian actor to play African drums to create an "infatuation" in the audience, seeking a magic power in the collision of music from different cultures.

All of the three plays will be staged at the outdoor KFS Music Box, which is made up of renovated shipping containers surrounding an open area.

Chen said the stage will be in different locations depending on the production. For instance, The Island will be staged in the center to create a sense of loneliness.

For the other two plays, they may use a number of stage areas set up in different containers, while at the same time use multimedia devices to create a fresh audiovisual experience.

My Children! My Africa! will be shown from September 8 to 13; The Island from September 22 to 27; and The Train Driver from October 9 to 11.



Xue Jing contributed to this story