"MASTER HAROLD"...and the boys 1982

As the audience grew restless awaiting the start of the play, the near twenty minute delay had me wondering if there would even be a production. Luckily, the play started and the wait, though unexplained, was worth it. Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre's production of Athol Fugard's riveting 'MASTER HAROLD'... AND THE BOYS proved to be a captivating afternoon.

When you go (and you should!) keep in mind that 'MASTER HAROLD ... AND THE BOYS' is a stirring and relevant piece of theatre, even as a staged reading. Oh, that it's relevance could someday be a thing of our past.

Austin Shakespeare will bring together three magnetic actors for South African playwright Athol Fugard’s humorous and stirring “Master Harold” … and the Boys at KMFA’s intimate Draylen Mason Studio in a weekend of powerful staged readings January 13-15, 2023.

It is 1950, and on a rainy South African afternoon in the St. George’s Park Tea Room, Hally (Nick Apostolina) is becoming himself. He was a boy – one prone to arrogance and self-pity, certainly but vulnerable, and capable of sweetness and hope. But now he is becoming a man – a brutal man, “MASTER HAROLD”, who embraces the world’s ugliness and claims it as his own. He does this by spitting in the face of Sam (L. Peter Callender), a Black man who had sheltered him to that point from the world’s worst, including his own father. In this primal way Master Harold joins the oppressors as a way of not joining the oppressed.

Arizona Theatre Company's current production hits the mark as a historical reminder and, through masterful performances by its cast of three, depicts institutionalized racism's capability to destroy even the most loving relationships.

The Fugard Theatre's acclaimed tenth birthday production of Athol Fugard's masterpiece a?oeMASTER HAROLDa??a??AND THE BOYS has been extended for a final time due to overwhelming demand.

Premiered in 1982, the staying power of Athol Fugard's 'MASTER HAROLD'... AND THE BOYS proves itself in its multiple revivals over the years, and Eric Abraham and The Fugard Theatre's latest 2020 production is one for the history books.

Greg Karvellas is back in the director's seat for The Fugard Theatre's production of the poignant 'MASTER HAROLD'... AND THE BOYS. Having recently directed the critically-acclaimed STATEMENTS AFTER AN ARREST UNDER THE IMMORALITY ACT, Karvellas reveals to BroadwayWorld what he learnt about Fugard, where he is taking MASTER HAROLD, and why this historical play still resonates today.

Arizona Theatre Company (Sean Daniels, Artistic Director; Billy Russo, Managing Director) presents Athol Fugard's powerfully haunting masterpiece, 'Master Harold' ... and the Boys from Jan. 18- Feb. 8 at the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson and from Feb. 13 to March 1 at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix.

A star-studded cast has been announced for a new Fugard Theatre production of Athol Fugard's masterpiece a?oeMASTER HAROLDa??a??AND THE BOYS which marks the start of the Fugard Theatre's 2020 season and tenth birthday year. (The Fugard was born on 12 February 2010.)

The National Theatre presents 'Master Harold'... and the boy, featuring Lucian Msamati (Amadeus, Kiri) as Sam, Hammed Animashaun (Barber Shop Chronicles, A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Willie and Anson Boon (Blackbird, The Alienist) as Hally, and directed by Roy Alexander Weise (Nine Night, The Mountaintop).

Athol Fugard's 1982 play, set in 1950s Port Elizabeth, is inspired by his own boyhood in apartheid-era South Africa a?' as Fugard says in a programme note, it's a?oethe most intensely personal thing I have ever writtena??. Like his teenage character Harold (Fugard's actual first name), his father was disabled and his mother tried to keep them afloat via a struggling tearoom. And, crucially, Fugard also had a complex relationship with Sam and Willie, their black employees a?' encapsulated here in an increasingly gripping 100-minute piece of atonement.

Athol Fugard's semi-autobiographical play seeks to 'exorcise' the demons of his upbringing.

The Kansas City Actors Theatre continues to provide Kansas City with some of the best dramas to appear in local theater with the opening of a?oeMASTER HAROLDa??a??AND THE BOYS Saturday night, at the City Stage in Union Station. Directed by Gary Heisserer the play runs through September 29.

Tony Award-winning playwright Athol Fugard's semi-autobiographical and blistering masterwork explores the nature of friendship and the ways people are capable of hurting even those they love.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of Athol Fugard's a?oe'Master Harold' a??and the Boys,a?? which will run from September 11 to September 29, 2019 at the City Stage in Union Station

Bunbury Theatre has offered an impressive season this year, with John Logan's Red serving as its crowning jewel. I have to say I was unfamiliar with Master Harold and the Boys going into this production, but it is safe to say that Bunbury rides the momentum generated by Red and ends this stellar season on a high note.

Athol Fugard is one of the most difficult modern playwrights to perform. His shows are largely punctuated by blunt dialogue, devoid of noticeable metaphor, and rely on the creation of highly realistic scene scapes defined oftentimes by the most mundane. None of his works exemplifies this style more than his most famous work, Master Harold… And the Boys. This is what makes Master Harold such a challenging work. Round House Theatre's new revival, which opened Monday in Bethesday, tries hard but doesn't prove up to the challenge of this dense work.

Round House Theatre continues its 2017-2018 Season with Athol Fugard's "Master Harold"… and the Boys, directed by Artistic Director Ryan Rilette. "Master Harold"… and the Boys runs from April 11 - May 6, 2018. Press night is Monday, April 16, 2018. Please see below for complete program details and ticket information. 

For it's second season offering the Shaw Festival and Shea's 710 Theatre in Buffalo chose to present Athol Fugard's MASTER HAROLD....AND THE BOYS. The production was a hit during Shaw's 2016 Festival in Niagara on the Lake and besides Buffalo, it recently was presented in Montreal.

The viewing experience is akin to sitting at an uncomfortable dinner party where the hosts make racist, ableist comments and fight bitterly with one another as you sit for 90 minutes, unable to say anything or leave.

The Segal Centre, in association with Black Theatre Workshop, is proud to present the acclaimed production of Master Harold and the Boys by the Shaw Festival in association with Obsidian Theatre. One of Athol Fugard's most powerful plays, this Dora Award-winning production will be on the Segal stage from January 21 to February 11, 2018. Fueled by the South African playwright's recollections of his youth, this incendiary play lights a fuse that ultimately explodes the subtle corruption of living in an environment where systemic racism is condoned or even encouraged; addressing racial injustice that lingers far beyond its apartheid era setting.

Out of the Box Theatrics' and Producing Artistic Director Elizabeth Flemming presents Athol Fugard's masterpiece "Master Harold"…and the Boys. Set in a tea shop in 1950 Apartheid South Africa, performances of this immersive, site specific production take place at Alice's Tea Cup - Chapter III, 220 E. 81st St. Directed by Ethan Paulini and featuring Cary Hite, Michael Oloyede and  Doug Plaut (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Jana Llynn is Production Stage Manager. 

Due to popular demand, the Signature Theatre (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director; James Houghton, Founder) production of 'Master Harold' ... and the boys, written and directed by Tony Award winner Athol Fugard, has been extended for a second time.

The subject of sensitive, well-intentioned white people growing up unaware of their own privilege has been receiving more and more attention in American, but back in 1982, South African playwright Athol Fugard approached the issue as experienced in his apartheid-infested homeland.