"Master Harold"...and the Boys

"Master Harold"...and the Boys
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 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

The one act play “Master Harold and the boys” takes place in St. George’s Tea Room in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The restaurant has no customers but there are two men. One is Willie who is cleaning up the place and the other one Sam is reading a book sitting at a set table. Both men are black and in their mid forties, working at the restaurant. Their discussion is about the dance competition and why Willie’s girlfriend has not turned up for the practice. Sam tells him it is because Willie beats up the girl when she makes mistakes. Sam tells him that he is making mistakes in the dance practice and his life by beating up the girl.

Camaraderie Between Hally and Sam

Just then Harold, called Hally enters the hotel. He is the son of the owner of the hotel. So Hally, the seventeen year old boy is the boss and the two men are his employees; not exactly his but his parents’. But the camaraderie shared by the men, especially Sam is something special. The boss and slave attitude is not seen between the three. They discuss various issues like his lessons in school, the injustice meted out on the blacks by the whites and the good times he had with the two men during his younger days. Hally fondly remembers the day Sam made a kite for him from junk and taught him to fly it as well.

Sam had told Hally then that flying a kite means holding the head high and it meant a very special advice for Hally as it was a bad day. Since that day a special bond was created between Sam and Hally. Hally began to look at Sam as a father figure as his own father was someone he could not look up for inspiration. It was at this happy moment of recalling the past, the phone rings to confirm the arrival of Hally’s father from the hospital. This upsets the congenial mood in the restaurant. Hally is agitated and does not want his father to come and spoil his peaceful time. His father was alcoholic and a cripple, a re-creation of Fugard's father.

Anger and Hatred

When Sam and Willie try to calm him down he turns upon them and starts bickering with them. He even scolds Willie and tells him he was not doing his job properly and beats him with a ruler. Sam brings in the topic of dance and relates it to life. Doing the steps right is very essential to make the life beautiful. But Hally counters that there is always bumping by someone and that the steps is never without the bumps. He says people bump into one another, countries bump into one another and rich bump into the poor and so on.

Then he asks how can cripples dance without creating problems and at this point Sam tells Hally not to talk of his father is such words. This once again heats up the discussion, Hally spits on Sam’s face and Sam is about to hit Hally but is stopped by Willie. Sam then calms down and reminds Hally about his younger days and the kite that was created but it does not prevail on Hally. Hally walks off not concerned about those days and suddenly turning into a white employer treating his black employees with total disregard. The play closes on this negative note and it is justified because when it was written none in Africa could see redemption to the apartheid era.

Casting History

The principal casts of notable productions of Master Harold... and the Boys

Note: In 1982, Ivanek who left to make the film The Sender, which is why he was replaced by Price. Note: Translated in Afrikaans by Idil Sheard as Master Harold en die Boys.

Adaptations

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 was 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 was 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

Further reading

• Fugard, Athol (1982). "Master Harold"-- and the Boys (First edition ed.). New York: A.A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-52874-3. 

External links

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