Valley Song

With the blight of apartheid lifted from South Africa, Athol Fugard, that nation's dominant voice in the theater, turns toward a quieter, more introspective story. It is daring in its simplicity, and absolutely shattering in its emotional impact. Its lovely, rural musings on hope, despair, and growth resonate far beyond the fields the action inhabits. There is an excellent framing device of an author (meant to represent Fugard, himself) in whose perceptual inadequacies we find a mirror for our own. Highly recommended.