Athol Fugard

Dennis Walder's literary biography of Fugard. 2003.

The Dramatic Art of Athol Fugard

Albert Wertheim's biography of Fugard. 2000.   Very good on both Fugard and his work.  Mokae is covered, but less extensively than in Vandenbroucke (below).

 Twentieth Century Theatre, Winter 1993

A collection of articles on Fugard.  Mokae is covered in his work on Nongogo and No-Good Friday, Blood Knot, Master Harold and Boesman.  You can read the articles on-line (see the links page).

Truth the hand can touch

A major literary biography of Athol Fugard by Russell Vandenbroucke. 1985.  Mokae is covered extensively, from early days with Fugard.  On Blood Knot "it had been traditional n South Africa for whites in blackface to play the roles of blacks and Coloureds. Mokae´s performance challenged this custom".

Athol Fugard

by Dennis Walder. The first full-length study of Fugard.

Mokae is discussed mainly for his work in Blood Knot.  Above Mokae attacks Ian Bannen in the London 1963 version.

Theater

An interview and with Zakes Mokae by Alisa Solomon.  Winter 1982.

Mokae: "Anyhow, Athol would leave sometimes, and then he'd come back with a new play. One time he came back with The Blood Knot. We performed the play on a hot Sunday night and it lasted more than four hours. On Monday the papers were raving about it...it all happened so fast the government couldn't do anything about it".

Plays and Players

A review of Master Harold by Catherine Hughes.  July 1982.

"Master Harold's conclusion is one of the most powerful that Broadway has experienced in many seasons, and the play itself is alternately funny and incisive, never less than absorbing.  The performances of Mokae, Glover and Price, under the author's direction, are virtually flawless".

Athol Fugard

Athol Fugard edited by Stephen Grey. 1982.  A large collection of essays on Fugard´s work. Very useful.  Mokae is covered mainly in his Blood Knot period

"Fugard and Zakes Mokae hold the stage alone for three hours in a dramatic work unequalled in out theatre, a teamwork in which the weight of a single word and levelling of a glance are given full value".

 The Times, 21 Oct 1966

A review of Macbeth with Mokae as one of the witches "... three shaggy African figures shuffle on and squat down together like village nannies for a friendly gossip and innocent giggles.  So much for the blasted heath and the weird sisters".

 The Times, 17 June 1966

A review of The Trials of Brother Jero "... a satirical comedy, featuring a cunning prophet (played by Zaikes Mokae) whose brand of Christianity works to his own advantage".  Note the misspelling of Zakes.

Plays and Players

A review of Blood Knot by Charles Marowitz.  April 1963.

The review from Plays and Players 1963 criticises Ian Bannen as "achieving the Africaan accent at the expense of the character" and of Mokae "only the passages of solo emotion came off".  The reviewer also manages to misspell the first names of both Mokae and Fugard.

 The Times, 22 Feb June 1963

A review of Blood Knot "... it is played with stark passion by Ian Bannen and Zaikes Mokae, an African newcomer with hair-trigger nervous energy".  Note the misspelling of Zakes.

 The Times, 12 Dec 1961

A review of Blood Knot "... the production, the teamwork of the two actors are each brilliant, but Fugard needs discipline in the length."

Notebooks

This is a major source of information on Fugard- his jottings and ideas. 1960-1977.  This includes the creation of various plays and work with Zakes Mokae.