I left Athol Fugards new play shaking, with tears in my eyes, as if I had just been party to some holy experience. Such was the majesty of Morlan Higgins performance as Andre, the great South African actor, and the mastery of both William Dennis Hurley as The Playwright and, of course, Athol Fugard himself.
Exits and Entrances is an elegantly rendered account of theatres capacity to move, to influence, to innovate and to reflect both it and life itself.
We begin with The Playwright musing upon recent exits and entrances in his life. The year is 1961. He tells of the regime change in South Africa, which is celebrated with rather subdued fanfare. He tells of his fathers impending exit from this life, a man of no importance, who has of late become a burden. He announces the birth of his daughter, as if exchanging one life for another. The last of these formative recollections relates to a two-line obituary buried deep inside a daily newspaper, noting the passing of Andre, a once revered actor with whom The Playwright had worked. The majority of Exits and Entrances is devoted to recounting The Playwrights two most memorable encounters with Andre. One in 1956 when acting with him in Oedipus, the other a backstage visit after seeing him in The Prisoner.
Andre is at first a formidable, arrogant and slightly pompous figure, though this is measured with an actors inherent vulnerability, underlying fragility and ongoing need for affirmation. He is an actor of the old tradition. Much as he and The Playwright disagree to an extent on modes of performance, we also witness the metaphorical (and literal) transference from the old guard to the new in terms of state policy. Whilst The Playwright might hugely respect and admire The Great Actor, they are of two generations between which there is a yawning gap. Progressive and conservative opinions on race, the theatre, the family and the self are revealed, discussed and then tolerated. We are a product of the society in which we live, appears to be the thoughtfully explored opinion of Athol Fugard. Fugard being both the playwright and The Playwright, as this play is autobiographical.
Dialogue is interweaved with extracts of Andres performances in Oedipus (1956) and The Prisoner (1961). As Oedipus, even without eyes, he is arrogant and formidable, but in The Prisoner he plays the Cardinal with humility, exhaustion, disconsolation and repents for the wrongs he has done. The Playwright hails both performances as magnificent, but finds most noteworthy Andres transformation from arrogance to humility. The acts Andre repents for whilst playing the Cardinal being, perhaps, a metaphor for white South Africas treatment of black South Africans during the Apartheid.
Perhaps, even without taking the metaphor too far Andre embodies the collective of white oppressors during the Apartheid, and The Playwright represents the compassionate, progressive group who sought its abolition. After all, Fugard has been for many years a vociferous contributor on the subject.
As the play rolls towards its conclusion, The Playwright and The Actor discuss the way forward, theatrically and socially. They debate whether or not ones creative force can ever be spent. And they try to ascertain what it actually means to be important. Such sentiments can be equally applied to the theatre as they can to life.
Exits and Entrances is a richly textured, thoughtful work, which demonstrates Fugards ability to rouse ghosts from the past and place them firmly in the present. William Dennis Hurley and Marlon Higgins give what may one day become seminal performances.
From Andres entrance five minutes in, the play grips and pulls you through. The second half immerses you even further. The last fifteen minutes will send shivers down your spine.
