Statements After An Arrest Under the Immorality Act

Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, director, actor and a novelist, who wrote about his ideas against the apartheid in South Africa. One of his plays, Statements After An Arrest Under the Immorality Act is about a white woman who falls in love with a black man and they start a relationship in secret however one of their neighbors saw them together and told on them, breaking up their relationship.
We looked at the last scenes of this play. The policeman has a narrative role, which reminded us about Heroin Lies. In Heroin lies, there is the newspaper boy who tells the audience what happens just like the policeman.
We found that the language in the monologues of this play was very powerful, and as a reader and audience, we would get deeply affected by this emotionally. Here's a line that stuck in my head,

My hands still have the sweat of your body on them, but I'll have to wash them...sometime. If I don't, they will. Nothing can stop me losing that little bit of you

I like this quote because it shows clearly that the government would choose their fates and they have no control over their lives, especially their love-lives.

On Tuesday, we were to interpret the monologue in the play. I was paired up with Sara.
We chose the man's monologue. We cut it down because it was long, and we introduced lighting, staging and physical acting. Although it was a monologue, Sara was still in it.

If they take away your eyes you can't see
If they take away your tongue you can't taste
If they take away your hands you can't feel
If they take away your nose you can't smell
If they take away your ears you can't hear
I can see
I can taste
I can feel
I can smell
I can hear
I can't love.

In sections such as the one above, Sara would read the longer bits "If they take away your eyes you can't see" etc, and I would read the shorter bits "I can see" etc. I was the man and Sara was the conscience or God, who was inside the man's head. (This also reminded me of the last scene of Heroin Lies where the girl goes crazy and hears voiced in her head.)

We decided to have a blue light in the beginning to show his depression and also the night, and then change to red light where he says "They put on the light." To show his helplessness and panic. Then we also had the idea of using flash from an actual camera when the man says "they take your picture."

Also while we were rehearsing, the other group had been doing their rehearsal with the lights and the lights came from the side. Sara and I were looking at it and found that it was more effective than just using light straight onto the actor. This can also be symbolic, to show that the man is not living his life fully since the government is restricting their other parts. The light only comes on and lights half of the actor, showing this half-heartedness.
Here's an example:


As the actor who plays the man, I looked up constantly as if I was looking up to God, seeking help. He is religious, as he says "So I tell God that I don't smoke, I don't drink and I know the price of bread."

I really liked doing this monologue and interpreting it was challenging (as we had to cut off bits as well) because we have not read the entire play. However, despite this, I still found it interesting and very powerful. It gives the audience something to think about, especially where he keeps referring to himself as a "man without a name" and a man that "can't love."