The Island (play)
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The Island is a play by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona.
The apartheid-era drama, inspired by a true story, is set in an unnamed prison clearly based on South Africa's notorious Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for seventeen years. It focuses on two life sentence cellmates who spend their days at mind-numbing physical labor and at night rehearse for a performance of Sophocles' Antigone, which they have been asked to present to their fellow inmates by the wardens. One takes the part of Antigone, who defies the laws of the state to bury her brother, and the other takes the part of her uncle Creon, who sentences her to die for her crime. The play examines the parallels between Antigone's situation and black men imprisoned for political reasons and the tensions that arise as the performance approaches, especially when one of the prisoners learns that he has won an early release and the men's deep friendship is tested.
In 1973, Fugard directed the play's first production in Cape Town, followed by a staging at the Royal Court Theatre in London, with Kani and Ntshona portraying the prisoners. The Broadway production, presented in repertory with Sizwe Banzi is Dead, opened on November 24, 1974 at the Edison Theatre, where it ran for 52 performances.
In an unusual move, Kani and Ntshona were named co-Tony Award nominees (and eventual winners) for Best Actor in a Play for both The Island and Sizwe Banzi, in which they also starred.
Over the next thirty years, Kani and Ntshona periodically performed in productions of the play. Notable among them were the Royal National Theatre in 2000 [1], reportedly the last time they would appear in it, although they went on to star at the Old Vic in 2002 [2] and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2004 [3].
[edit] Broadway awards and nominations
- Tony Award for Best Play (co-nominee with Sizwe Banzi)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in Play (Kani and Ntshona, winners)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play (Kani and Ntshona, co-nominees)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Foreign Play (co-nominee with Sizwe Banzi)
