"Master Harold"...and the boys NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (194)
See it if You like Powerful, verbally elegant, deeply touching theater that casts a clear light on the world of America today,privilege vs courage!
Don't see it if You don't want to understand what is happening in America today or see a play that will shatter your illusions about race, courage and grace Read more
See it if you enjoy a well-acted, well-written drama that flows seemlessly. Moving and thoughtfully portrayed. Bravo.
Don't see it if you do not like plays with little plot and small casts.
See it if you want to feel the raw power of the human soul laid bare. Master Harold is just as poignant now as it was during the age of apartheid.
Don't see it if you require a great amount of spectacle or are uncomfortable talking or thinking about the nature of race and the way it affects our lives. Read more
See it if want to see one of the best plays of the season (and much longer) All 3 cast members are superb
Don't see it if you only want to laugh and sing. although one does want to sing with love and understanding. Read more
See it if you want your theatre to be challenging but very worthwhile
Don't see it if you're in the mood for a very light-hearted affair
See it if You enjoy moving, challenging, adult writing and flawless acting.
Don't see it if If you prefer light, fluffy entertainment only.
See it if you want to witness the definitive production of a classic.
Don't see it if you voted for Trump.
See it if Great acting. Painfully relevant, especially the day after our election. Fugard is a master story teller and the cast was excellent.
Don't see it if If you don't want to see painful personal and race dynamics.
Critic Reviews (26)
"There is little action in the play, but a lot of thought...Brown and Robbins both do a superb job of conveying the complicated relationship between the two; one that leads to a powerful moment when the gentleman who has devoted more than a decade to being a role model to the boy must respond to his rebellion. The charismatic Ngaujah's role is more humorous, but he effectively serves as an example of acceptable behavior for a black man of that time and place."
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"If Robbins embodies the powder keg of emotional conflicts that drive Hally, Leon Addison Brown is a tower of humanity, taking in Hally's meltdown with all-seeing eyes, yet not flinching from brutal honesty when it is needed….There's much more, all of it rendered in stunning detail under Fugard's direction…All three actors are superbly skilled in the art of listening…Fugard long ago admitted that the play is based on an incident from his youth…Out of the pain has come a masterpiece.”
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"The play itself has not lost any of its power even if it's lost some of its ability to surprise...Fugard attacks the topic so thoroughly and so bracingly that it remains astonishing that he does so with such sensitivity and beauty that overwhelm the underlying anger...The gasps we may no longer need. But the accompanying insight is, as it has always been, invaluable."
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“‘Master Harold…and the Boys’ is probably the best-known work by South African master playwright Athol Fugard. The latest production at the Signature Theatre is the clearest and most subtle of the several I've seen. Under Mr. Fugard's astute direction, the play unrolls at a surprisingly leisurely pace, its microcosmic look at 1950's South African Apartheid society making its mark at first with whispered indications of discontent and finally with an explosion of hatred and disloyalty.”
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"Now in revival, under the direction of Fugard, his coming-of-age play still pulses with a terrible beauty...Fugard impeccably directs to let the Beckett-like simplicity of his play be its strong suit. He trusts to its spare language, vividly limned characters, and the tableaus of the racial hate percolating in South Africa of 1950...The revival of his autobiographical 'Master Harold' is a fine opportunity to re-visit a gem that transcends the dark days of apartheid."
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"Its powerful discussions and depictions of racism and social class greatly resonate in a society where just four months earlier the chant 'Black Lives Matter!' rang through the city...Under Fugard’s masterful direction, the rising stakes and pain of the characters become palpable as Sam and Hally move closer and closer to the invisible Rubicon between black servants and white masters...Theater fans would be sorry indeed if they were to miss out on this exquisite production."
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"Playwright Athol Fugard directs and conducts the breathtaking hairpin turns in the dialogue rhythms that lull us into revelations...The play feels devastatingly current and resonant in today’s America…An intimate, slow burn of a masterwork. Characters with full and layered lives change in a dramatic instant into social stereotypes, the race and class tensions simmer through civility, and we feel their loneliness and their loss."
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"A mighty play given a mighty production. It was a privilege to experience this moving work of art and I recommend it without reservation...The impact of the action and the finely wrought portrayals by these accomplished actors is one of astonishment...'Master Harold' is amusing at times. But it is at its best in establishing real, deeply experienced relationships, which, when they break apart, break us, the audience, also...Fugard has directed with perfect attention to detail."
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