A short analysis is firstly given of how the 'mechanics' of everyday conversation is demonstrated in a particular scene in Fugard's Boesman and Lena (1978). In this article I use the above viewpoint as an approach to study dramatic language in Fugard's oeuvre. A study of dramatic language in a playwright's oeuvre should, according to Vimala Herman (1995), not only focus on the interactive and interactional uses of dialogue, but should also include a discussion of the wider cultural context in which these plays are situated.
