Cannon as Morris and James Earl Jones as Zachariah, at the Cricket Theatre, Off Broadway, in New York City, in 1964, "launch[ing]" Fugard's "American career.
Morris can pass for white, and has done so in the past, but now he has returned to live with Zachariah in a small, miserable shack in the "colored" section of Port Elizabeth.
At Morris' insistence, The lonely Zachariah has struck up a pen-pal relationship with a white girl and entertains fantasies that she might fall in love with him.
The more level-headed Morris tries to disabuse Zachariah of such notions and warns him that in segregated South Africa, such a relationship can only mean trouble, especially since the girl has indicated in letters that her brother is a policeman.
Morris and Zachariah will, apparently, remain together for many unhappy years to come, needing each other, but unable to bridge the gap brought about by their respective skin tones.
The first version, directed by Charles Jarrott, was shot in May 1963 for the highly regarded Armchair Theatre anthology series, but was never transmitted, although the recording has survived.
Most exciting was his treatment of the letter writing scene – "Address her" – which he turned into an essay in literacy...Zach sweating as the words clot in his mouth....[4]Less pleased, and committed to the system of apartheid, the South African government of B. J. Vorster confiscated Fugard's passport.