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I'm Terry Gross.
As a playwright, actor and director,
Athel Fugard defied South Africa's system and the government punished him for it.
He died Saturday at the age of 92.
We're going to listen back to the interview we recorded in 1986,
eight years before the end of apartheid.
Fugard was a white South African who wrote about the emotional
and psychological consequences of his country's white supremacist system.
When Fugard co starred in his 1961 play the Blood Knot with black actor Zakes Mukai,
they became the first black and white actors in South African history to share a stage.
Soon after, Fugard was approached by a group of black actors seeking his help to start a company.
Together they formed the Serpent Players.
The company was frequently harassed by the authorities.
A few members were imprisoned.