Fugard - Sorrows and Rejoicings

SORROWS and REJOICINGS

BOOKS BY ATHOL FUGARD

AVAILABLE FROM TCG

Blood Knot and Other Plays

The Captains Tiger

Cousins (a memoir)

A Lesson from Aloes

Marigolds in August and The Guest

My Children! My Africa!

Notebooks: 19601977

Playland and A Place with the Pigs

The Road to Mecca

Statements

Valley Song

Sorrows and Rejoicings is copyright 2002 by Athol Fugard

Sorrows and Rejoicings is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc. 355 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10017-6603

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio of television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form of by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights including, but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is places on the question of readings and all uses of these plays by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the authors representative: Samuel Liff, William Morris Agency, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, (212) 586-5100

The author would like to acknowledge Professor Marianne McDonald of the University of California, San Diego, for her fine Ovid translations.

Karoo photograph is reprinted by permission of Satour.

This publication is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.

TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, 1045 Westgate Dr., St. Paul, MN 55114.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Fugard, Athol.

Sorrows and rejoicings / by Athol Fugard. 1st ed.

p. cm.

eISBN 978-1-55936-693-9

1. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)Drama. 2. WomenSouth AfricaDrama. 3. Karoo (South Africa)Drama. 4. Women, BlackDrama. 5. White womenDrama. 6. ExilesDrama. 7. PoetsDrama. I. Title.

PR 9369.3.F8 S67 2001

CIP

Cover photo by T. Charles Erickson

Cover and text design by Lisa Govan

First Edition, February 2002

For my sisters

Mary, Katrina and Dudu

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Sorrows and Rejoicings received its world premiere in May 2001, at the McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton, NJ (Emily Mann, Artistic Director; Jeffrey Woodward, Managing Director). The production was directed by the playwright. Associate direction, set design and costume design was by Susan Hilferty and lighting design was by Dennis Parichy. The cast was as follows:

In August 2001, Sorrows and Rejoicings was produced at the Baxter Theatre Centre (Mannie Manim, Director) at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The production was directed by the playwright. Associate direction, set design and costume design was by Susan Hilferty and lighting design was by Mannie Manim. The cast was as follows:

In February 2002, Sorrows and Rejoicings was produced at Second Stage Theatre in New York City (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Carol Fishman, Managing Director). The production was directed by the playwright. Associate direction, set design and costume design was by Susan Hilferty and lighting design was by Dennis Parichy. The cast was as follows:

SORROWS and REJOICINGS

CHARACTERS

ALLISON OLIVIER, a white woman, forties

MARTA BARENDS, a colored woman, forties

REBECCA, Martas daughter, eighteen

DAWID OLIVIER, the writer, a white man, fifties, and then younger

TIME

The present.

SETTING

The living room of a large and comfortable house in a Karoo village in the heartland of South Africa.

I feared Id forget my Latin language

Forget how to use my dear mother tongue.

I thought it would clot and dry in my veins

And never again its sweet song be sung.

Now I talk to myself and speak the words

Savoring each syllable so long unused.

I speak and practice my verbal art,

Those skills they say in Rome I abused.

So I eke out my life and pass my time

Trying to erase my loss and my pain.

I spend hours in speaking my mother tongue,

In which I find both my loss and my gain.

You ask me when my lament will end:

When my exile ends and my cry is heard.

Although complaints pour from a fountain full,

Its my fate that speaks, not mine those words.

Bring me back to my land and beloved wife:

Youll hear me laugh, when you return me to life.

I wish that you mourned my death not my life,

And you would be widowed only through death.

Then my spirit could soar on the winds of my land,

Your tears on my breast as I breathed my last breath.

Your fingers then would have closed my eyes

After one last look on my native skies.

EXCERPT FROM OVIDS Sorrows (TRISTIA)

TRANSLATED BY MARIANNE MCDONALD

The living room of a large and comfortable house in a Karoo village. The centerpiece is a glowing, well-polished stink wood table and chairs.

A murmur of voices outside.

A front door opens and closes and a few seconds later three women enter the room from a passageway. They are Allison Olivier, a white woman, in her forties; Marta Barends, a colored woman, also in her forties; and Rebecca, Martas daughter, much lighter skinned than her mother, eighteen years old.

It is immediately obvious that they have come from a funeral. Both Allison and Marta are dressed in black. Marta has a small bible and hymn book in one hand and a large bunch of keys in the other. She is the only one to move with ease and familiarity around the room.

Allison is the first to appear. She walks slowly into the room and looks around. She is alone in the room for a few seconds.

Marta then enters and stands quietly to one side. She watches Allison and waits.

Rebecca follows a few seconds later but remains at the entrance to the room. She will stay therea sullen and silent presence in the backgrounduntil her moment toward the end of the play.

ALLISON: My word! Nothing has changed. This is exactly as I remember it.

MARTA: Thats right. Nothing has changed.