Leon, the Broadway director of Radio Golf, Gem of the Ocean and the 2004 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, is also the artistic director of Atlanta's True Colors Theatre Company. A co-production with Theatrical Outfit, for which Key serves as artistic director, Blood Knot will run through Aug. 2 at the Balzer Theater.
Alliance Theatre artistic director Susan V. Booth stages the production that features Leon and Key reprising their performances from a 1998 Atlanta production of Fugard's play, which focuses on half-brothers, one white and one black.
Set in Apartheid-era South Africa, Blood Knot: A Play in Seven Scenes, explores the lives of Zack (Leon) and Morrie (Key), who share the same mother, but fathers of different races. According to press notes, "Morrie can 'pass' for white in society, a fluke of fate that dictates both brothers’ lives. The two share a one-room shack and dreams for a better life; but when a female pen-pal suddenly proposes a face-to-face meeting, their mutual fondness for imaginary game-playing turns dark and reveals the inner fears and wounds haunting each man’s sense of self."
Designing Blood Knot are Chris Bartelski (sound design), Jonida Beqo (costume design), Maclare "MC" Park (set/props design), Pete Shinn (lighting design) and Leslie Taylor (set design).
Fugard's plays include Coming Home, Boesman and Lena, Sizwe Bansi is Dead, The Island, Master Harold and the Boys, My Children! My Africa!, Exits and Entrances, Victory, Bootjie and the Oubaas and Visions and Dreams. His play Have You Seen Us? will receive its world premiere at the Long Wharf Theatre in January 2010. For tickets, priced $20-$35, phone (678) 528-1500 or visit TheatricalOutfit. The Balzer Theater at Herren's is located at 84 Luckie Street in Atlanta, GA.