The work is scheduled to begin previews Feb. 8 and open Feb. 13 for a run at the San Francisco stage through March 9.

"Set in the South Africa of the early 1960s," according to a release, Blood Knot "follows two brothers living together in penury in a township outside of Port Elizabeth. The two lead an apparently stable life, as Morrie, who can pass for white, cooks and cleans for himself and hardworking, dark-skinned Zach, until the two take up a pen pal. When a snapshot reveals that the pen pal is a white woman, tensions between the brothers seethe to the surface and explode, revealing truths about the characters, about race, and about the nature of brotherhood the world over."

A.C.T. core acting company members Steven Anthony Jones (The Imaginary Invalid, After the War) and Jack Willis (The Rainmaker, Happy End) star in the production, which will feature "original music composed for this production by internationally renowned, multiple Grammy Award-winning artist Tracy Chapman."

The design team for Blood Knot includes Alexander V. Nichol (scenic), Sandra Woodall (costume), Kathy A. Perkins (lighting) and Dan Moses Schreier (sound).

Randolph-Wright completed work on the upcoming musical film "Mama, I Want to Sing!" The director has previously staged A.C.T.'s Insurrection: Holding History, Blithe Spirit, and Tartuffe. He penned the play Blue, which played Off-Broadway (starring Phylicia Rashad) and also directed Cuttin' Up (at Pasadena Playhouse), Brian Stokes Mitchell in the solo show Love/Life (Lincoln Center) and the world premieres of Oni Faida Lampley Tough Titty (Williamstown Theatre Festival) and Senor Discretion Himself (Arena Stage). Playwright Fugard is known for his plays, which include "Master Harold" ...and the boys, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, The Island, A Lesson from Aloes, The Road to Mecca, My Children! My Africa!, Boesman and Lena, Playland, The Captain's Tiger, Valley Song and Sorrows and Rejoicings. He starred in the 1986 Broadway production of Blood Knot with Zakes Mokae.

Tickets for Blood Knot at A.C.T., 405 Geary Street, are available by calling A.C.T. ticket services at (415) 749-2228 or at act-sf.org.