Athol FugardAthol Fugard was born on 11 June 1932 in Middleburg Northern Cape, to a family with a below-average income. His mother, Elizabeth Magdalena, an Afrikaner, first ran a general store and then a boarding house; his father, Harold, was a disabled former jazz pianist of Irish, English and French Huguenot blood. In 1935, his family moved to Port Elizabeth. He attended Marist Brothers College in 1938, then attended the University of Cape Town to study philosophy. After his second year at the University of Cape Town, with his mother's consent he abandoned his studies to travel the world, touring Africa while working on a merchant ship where he began to writhe. In 1956 Fugard married Sheila Meiring, a South African actress and writer. He wrote his first play Klaas and the Devil (1956). He subsequently wrote No-Good Friday (1958), the cell (1957) and nongogo (1959) which was his first play to be produced abroad in Sheffield, England and New York, USA. In the years 1958-1961 Fugard worked with the Union Artists in Johannesburg. (The Union of South African Artists, known as the Union Artists, was formed in the 1950s to protect black artists from discrimination.) Around 1959 Fugard moved to London to avoid conflicts with the national government as his plays were against the regime of the time for which he wrote The Blood Nod in 1960. This play was performed once in Johannesburg in 1961 before being banned by government. In 1961 Fugard's daughter Lisa Fugard was born, but unfortunately her father died later that year. In the same year Fugard joined the fight against apartheid and wrote a play called The Coat (1966) which was produced in 1966 in South Africa. In 1967 Fugard returned to... middle of paper... represents the whites of the time and the power they had over blacks regardless of age or height, Harold's age being very symbolic in the play. as he is young and still has the power to give orders to about two 40 year old black workers, a very powerful but small aspect of the game. Harold in this play represents Athol as a boy and his experiences of apartheid. So Harold represents power as well as Athol's childhood. Athol Fugard could be considered one of the most influential writers in the world, with his plays still relevant today, not only for the memory of apartheid but for the emotional reflections that human beings must have once in a while. while about the human race and what an imperfect race we are. Fugard's works during apartheid challenged black people and gave them hope and now, post-apartheid, his works serve as a capsule that preserves South Africa's most painful memories..