Boesman and Lena

Boesman and Lena (1969) follows a pattern which is typical of Fugard's plays such as The Blood Knot (1963) and Hello and Goodbye (1966). It explores the controversial and ambiguous relationship...

Boesman and Lena are forced to wander from place to place after their home has been bulldozed—a common practice in apartheid-era South Africa. Their enforced wanderings constitute a parody of the...

All of these traumatic events are in some way related to Boesman’s experience as a mixed-race man in apartheid-era South Africa. He and Lena have been bulldozed out of their home under racist...

The first thing we learn about Lena is that she is homeless thanks to having been kicked out of their home by government authorities prior to the beginning of the story. She is a black South...

By the end of the play Lena has come to the realization that she's a lot stronger than she always thought. This puts her in a position of relative strength with regards to Boesman, who'd previously...

Boesman and Lena are mixed-race itinerants who nomadically roam the Eastern Cape looking for work and temporary housing. Why not begin your essay by exploring the theme of displacement or diaspora?...

Though still quite a recent event, the destruction of Boesman and Lena’s shack by the authorities is no less traumatic. Like so many other people in this racist society, they’ve had their home...