Master Harold...and the Boys

For other uses, see Master Harold and the Boys.

Master Harold...and the boys Bhavik
Penguin Books edition
Written by	Athol Fugard
Characters	Hally Sam Willy
Date premiered	1982
Place premiered	Yale Repertory Theatre New Haven, Connecticut
Original language	English
Subject	A student moves from childhood innocence to poisonous bigotry.
Genre	Drama
Setting	St. Georges Park Tea Room, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. 1950.
IBDB profile

Master Harold...and the boys is a play by Athol Fugard. It was first produced at the Yale Repertory Theatre in early 1982 and made its premiere on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on 4 May where it ran for 344 performances. The play takes place in South Africa during the apartheid era, and it depicts how institutionalized racism, bigotry or hatred can become absorbed by those who live under it.

The play was initially banned from production in South Africa.^[1]

Plot

Seventeen year-old Hally spends time with two middle-aged African servants, Sam and Willie, whom he has known all his life. On a rainy afternoon, Sam and Willie are practicing ballroom steps in preparation for a major competition. Sam is quickly characterized as being the more worldly of the two. When Willie, in broken English, describes his ballroom partner as lacking enthusiasm, Sam correctly diagnoses the problem: Willie beats her if she doesn't know the steps.

Hally then arrives from school. Sam is on an equal intellectual footing with Hally; Willie, for his part, always calls the white boy "Master Harold." The conversation moves from Hally's school-work, to an intellectual discussion on "A Man of Magnitude", to flashbacks of Hally, Sam and Willie when they lived in a Boarding House. Hally warmly remembers the simple act of flying a kite Sam had made for him out of junk, which we learn later, Sam made to cheer Hally up after Hally was embarrassed greatly by his father's drunkenness. Conversation then turns to Hally's 500-word English composition. The play reaches an emotional apex as the beauty of the ballroom dancing floor ("a world without collisions") is used as a transcendent metaphor for life and a creative paper topic... But almost immediately despair returns: Hally's tyrannical father has been in the hospital recently, undergoing medical complications due to the leg he lost in World War II, but it appears that today he is coming home. Hally, utterly distraught with this news, unleashes years of anger and pain on his two black friends, creating possibly permanent rifts in his relationship with them. For the first time, Hally begins to treat Sam and Willie as subservient help, rather than as friends or playmates. Sam is hurt but understands that Hally is really causing himself the most pain. There is a glimmer of hope for reconciliation at the end, when Sam addresses Hally by his name again and asks to start over the next day, hearkening back to the simple days of the kite. Hally responds "It's still raining, Sam. You can't fly kites on rainy days, remember," then walks out into the rain.

Original cast

At Yale Repertory the original cast was Zeljko Ivanek as Hally, Zakes Mokae as Sam, and Danny Glover as Willie. When the production moved to Broadway Lonny Price replaced Ivanek who left to make the film The Sender. Glover later appeared in the Broadway revival in the role of Sam.

Adaptations

Main article: Master Harold...and the Boys (2010 film)

1985 film

Fugard adapted the play for a television movie produced in 1985, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg with stars, Matthew Broderick, Zakes Mokae, and John Kani.

2010 film

A filmed version of the play is being produced in South Africa in 2009 starring Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland) as Hally and Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Mission Impossible 1-3) as Sam. The film is directed by Emmy Award-winning director Lonny Price (who played Hally in the original Broadway cast) and produced by Zaheer Goodman-Bhyat, Mike Auret, Nelle Nugent and David Pupkewitz.

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1982 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play
• 1983 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Play
• 1983 London Evening Standard Award for Best Play

Nominations

• 1982 Tony Award for Best Play

References

1. ^ "Master Harold...and the Boys" (Press release). The Colony Theatre Company. 26 September 2007. http://www.colonytheatre.org/news/PRMasterHarold.html. Retrieved 2008-10-01. 

Further reading

• Fugard, Athol (1982). "Master Harold"-- and the Boys (First edition ed.). New York: A.A. Knopf. ISBN 0394528743. 

External links

• Master Harold...and the Boys at the Internet Broadway Database
• Master Harold...and the Boys (revival) at the Internet Broadway Database