Calling Boesman and Lena "Athol Fugard's profoundest play," Simon lauds the playwright for his probing examination of the injustices of Apartheid. Despite his respect for the text, however, the critic offers only mixed praise for the cast of this 1992 revival production.

Boesman and Lena, when it comes off, is Athol Fugard's profoundest play. Almost nothing happens—as in Beckett—yet all the injustices of the world are encapsulated in it. Two South African Coloureds—neither black nor white but in between— are wandering about the mud flats with their few belongings on their backs. They'll hunt for prawns in the riverbed in the morning, but tonight they'll pitch their makeshift tent, eat a little, drink, sleep, and maybe forget. Instead, they argue. Because Boesman relieves misery by beating his woman, and she, smarter and more verbal, relieves it with taunts. They fight, therefore they are.

Then a...