THE STORY: EXITS AND ENTRANCES is the story of a relationship between a young man on the threshold of his career as a playwright and an aging actor who has reached the end of his career on the stage. The play is based directly on Fugard’s own early formative experiences in South African theatre and the effect that the legendary Afrikaans actor André Huguenet had on him in shaping his own vision of theatre. It is a play in which the young man’s optimism and hope balance the despair and disillusionment of the aging actor. The action takes place in a series of scenes set in various dressing rooms during which the confrontation between two starkly differing realities plays out with humor, pathos and dramatic power. As the rave reviews of the premiere in Los Angeles reveal, this is a play that is intensely human and speaks to everyone. But, above all else, this is a play that celebrates theatre and its abiding significance. From the two very different perspectives of the young man and the old actor, EXITS AND ENTRANCES also reflects the search for a theatre of relevance in an oppressive society.
“[Fugard] can say more with a single line than most playwrights convey in an entire script…Paraphrasing the title, it’s safe to say this drama, making its memorable entrance into our consciousness, is unlikely to exit as long as a theater exists for exceptional work.” —Variety.
“A thought-provoking, elegant and engrossing new play…” —The Hollywood Reporter.
“Fugard remains the rare thing he always was: a brilliant, fearless playwright, tapping into the essence of what it feels like to be human…” —Backstage West.
