A Lesson from Aloes

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Athol Fugard. A Lesson from Aloes

INTRODUCTION

May

September

November

Characters

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

SCENE 3

Act Two

Отрывок из книги

In celebration of

Elizabeth Magdalena Potgieter

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Piet and his wife Gladys. Their simple little house in Algoa Park. She is English speaking and well educated by comparison with his few years at a farm school. Writes poetry, nothing published. When their house was searched recently by the Special Branch, they found her poems and read them all. This had a traumatic effect on her (rape?), and led to a nervous breakdown. Mentally disturbed for a number of years. Several visits to Fort England mental home in Grahamstown. The last time she had to be taken forcibly after P.’s cajoling, pleading and threats had failed to get her voluntarily into the ambulance.

By contrast, P.’s sober sanity. The feeling he gives that this is indestructible ... that you could destroy him but never drive him mad. She is highly strung, neurotic at her best, really unbalanced at her worse ... the refinements and sensitivities that go with this condition. A qualified shorthand typist but has seldom kept a job for longer than a month because of the recurrent delusion that any new appointment in the office where she is working is a Special Branch spy placed to keep an eye on her and Piet.

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