Blood Knot is the story of two biracial South African brothers: the light-skinned Morris and the dark-skinned Zach. While Morris is able to pass for white, Zach feels imprisoned by his job at a park for whites only. Together, the pair struggles with poverty, isolation and the blood knot between them.
What is the Story of Blood Knot?
Set in Korsten, South Africa, in 1961, Blood Knot centers around Morris and Zachariah, two half-brothers who live in a shack in the ghetto. Both brothers share the same black mother, but Morris has fair skin and Zach has darker skin. Morris, who has passed for white in the past, keeps house, while Zach supports them both at his job in a whites-only park. To stave off isolation, Zach becomes pen pals with a young white girl, pretending he is a well-to-do white man with a car. But when the girl wants to meet Zach in person, both brothers agree that white-looking Morris should go in his place. After discovering that the young girl won’t be coming to town after all, the brothers play a bizarre role-playing game that exposes the deep tension lying beneath the surface of their tender, codependent relationship.
"[Fugard] does a fine job creating an increasingly oppressive atmosphere, and wrings intense, sometimes grimly funny performances from Shepherd and Domingo."
New York Post
Elisabeth Vincentelli
"Vivid performances by Domingo ('The Scottsboro Boys') and Shepherd ('Gatz') keep the story pulsing and hold the audience tight as a tourniquet."
New York Daily News
Joe Dziemianowicz
"Mr. Fugard’s play brings to life the thankfully distant brutalities of apartheid with the piercing humanity that distinguishes all his finest work."
The New York Times
Charles Isherwood