Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Fugard called "Master Harold"… and the boys "the most intensely and immediately autobiographical" of all his plays. Fugard's real first name is Harold (nickname Hally), which is his father's name. Because he had a bad relationship with his father, he decided to go by Athol. Because of his father's disability (he lost a leg in a childhood accident) and alcoholism, Fugard's mother had to run the Jubilee Boarding House and later, the St. George's Park Tea Room where his friends Willie Molopo and Sam Semela worked. As a young boy, Fugard was a loner who spent most of his time with Sam and Willie and thought of Sam as his role model. When he was ten years old, he spit on Sam after an argument and never forgave himself for it. (Source)
Fugard and his sister were champion ballroom dancers as kids. For three years they were the Eastern Province Ballroom Dance Champions, so he had a lot of experience to draw from in writing about dancing in "Master Harold." (Source)
The South African government revoked Fugard's passport for four years after he wrote the anti-apartheid play Blood Knot, and the Secret Police started surveilling him. (Source)