THEATER REVIEWS : ‘Island’ Cellmates Unlock Fugard

No other playwright has ever written as movingly and richly about racial inequality in South Africa as Athol Fugard. Several times he has even put his life on the line to defend his right to speak out against apartheid.

If his 1973 play “The Island” seems simplistic compared to his other works, such as the similar, longer and more powerful “The Bloodknot,” its style certainly has affected other South African theater artists--black and white--in their efforts to educate and equalize.

This Ensemble Theatre production of “The Island,” directed by R.A. Blankenship Jr., knows what it’s about, both in Fugard’s use of characterization to make his statement, rather than in-the-face polemics, and in Fugard’s ability to poke fun at politics by emphasizing his characters’ sense of humor about their situation.

In this case, the playwright focuses on two men whose political beliefs have landed them in Robben Island’s maximum security prison. Winston is a lifer; John has been sentenced to 10 years.

That 10 years has just been cut short as John finds out he only has three months to serve--and Winston is not at all happy about it. Nor is he happy about playing Antigone in drag in John’s “concert” version of Sophocles’ drama about falsity and the power of the state.

Blankenship understands what the humor covers: the desperate need for self-respect and the frustrations of being treated as less important than others. There’s also the matter of survival in a world that isn’t concerned about your existence.

He also understands the microcosmic world of John and Winston, a narrow pallet representing their cell on a bare stage, and their weaving of conversational threads into a tapestry of hope alternating with despair.

Blankenship also plays Winston, with underlying hurt not successfully hidden by his general complacency. His smiles are those of a make-do existence, his frowns those of terrified acceptance.

Mellow Martin has the richer role of John, gently conning Winston into an awareness of how to survive, as open emotionally as a puppy, as wily as a kitten. Martin fills John’s corners and edges with telling detail. Both are strong, inventive performances.

Three scenes in the cell are followed by a brief performance of John’s version of “Antigone,” with Winston in the title role and John as Creon.

It’s as close as Fugard has ever gotten to making a statement directly to the audience. But it’s a statement of import to authorities who allow injustice, not only those in South Africa, but throughout the world.

*”The Island,” Ensemble Theatre, 844 E. Lincoln Ave., Suite E (rear), Orange. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Aug. 7. $8-$25. (714) 998-2199. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. Mellow Martin: John

Roosevelt Blankenship Jr.: Winston

An Ensemble Theatre production. Play by Athol Fugard. Directed by R.A. Blankenship Jr. Set design: R.A. Blankenship Jr. Sound and lighting: Marcus E. Blankenship. Costumes: R.A. Blankenship Jr. and Mellow Martin.