THE STORY: Set in the New South Africa (after the first free election in 1994), this play features two adolescents, Vicky and Freddie, from Pienaarsig, the township in Nieu Bethesda that separates the coloreds from the whites. When she was alive, Vicky’s mother worked as a maid for Lionel and his wife. Now, Vicky and Freddie have come to rob Lionel’s house. Lionel discovers them, and this leads to a night of dialogue in which Vicky and Freddie reveal the hardships of their lives in poverty, with neither education nor jobs. Freddie is aiming for a life of crime in Cape Town, where he plans to join a gang and sell drugs, bringing Vicky with him. His hatred for Lionel stems from his own powerlessness and the mistaken belief that Lionel sexually abused Vicky. Feeling betrayed, Lionel appeals to Vicky hoping to redeem himself and to offer her more help. He is shot by accident, however, and Freddie flees the scene while Vicky sings a gospel hymn and calls out for her mommie. A play of both hope and hopelessness, VICTORY reflects the violence and despair of many of the young in South Africa who have little prospect of a constructive future.
“…although the tragedy lies sadly and absurdly in pieces when the lights go down, there still flickers some hope in the last candle and silly song that Vicky intones. The play’s title, from Vicky’s name given to her by her mother in 1994 when Mandela’s freedom optimistically suggested conquest of their pathetic circumstance rather than suggesting irony, may hint at the battle for victory of forgiveness still ahead. The intensity and tight time frame of Fugard’s drama drive the urgency.” —Sunday Independent (South Africa).
“…taut drama—a small, straightforward post-Apartheid one-act…What distinguishes VICTORY isn’t the novelty of its engaging plot, but the all-encompassing humanity with which it is observed. It’s a piece, in other words, for actors to bring to three-dimensional life…its searching moral complexity is utterly gripping.” —Los Angeles Times.
“VICTORY is a solid story transcending our still active obsession with skin colour. It’s also more than a cautionary tale warning us of the dangers of clinging to perverted relationships. It’s a story of the raw pain we cause to people we love.” —Sydney Morning Herald (Australia).
“VICTORY dramatizes the plight of the dispossessed, the responsibilities of the privileged—and the humanity of both.” —The Times (London).
