'Master Harold'... and the Boys

Athol Fugard wrote a brilliant play about the institutional and personal racism that was South African society. It made its debut at the Yale Repertory Theater back in 1950 and it took over 30 years to get to Broadway.

This is a public television broadcast of said play and it stars African players Zakes Mokae and John Kani as the help in a luncheon establishment in Port Elizabeth. South Africa. The teenage son of the owner is the third character in this 3 person drama and our title character Master Harold played here by Matthew Broderick.

Young Harold is home from school and he's got some father issues. The old man is a drunk and a bully and he's crippled besides. He's a burden on Harold and his mom and the business they have that supports them is her's.

The two servants have been with the family for years. But Mokae makes the mistake of getting too familiar with the kid and he pays.

You can only imagine the shame and humiliation Broderick feels from his peers. But South African society with racism codified into their law tells Broderick there's a whole group that he's superior too who have darker skins. And if that's not enough there's the personal racism in which he was probably built into his own upbringing.

This is an autobiographical work from Fugard and this televised play is perfectly cast and performed. The incessant rain in the background both explains why there are no customers and adds to a gloomy tension that the work has.

Don't miss this if broadcast.

Athol Fugard's drama brought to life on TV. Zakes Mokae, who co-starred in the Yale Reparatory Theatre production of this play with Danny Glover, works alongside future star Matthew Broderick. The script itself is outstanding, uncovering the inherent racism in even the best of friends, and how it can momentarily tear apart a friendship. This adaptation is done very well; the movie was low-budget for a reason: only three parts were cast in the original script to begin with, and only one set was necessary!

I found this on YouTube recently, and it reminded me of the time many years ago when I saw this on television. I was a young man (25) at the time, and it just tore me up. I would like to think that I was already a non-racist, but I know that this movie grounded and solidified my opinions and feeling on the topic like nothing else ever has.

It sneaks up on you. Three people talking in room about ballroom dancing, geography, history, and kite flying. You don't see it coming, but it gradually becomes one of the most profound statements on how racism hurts everyone, including (and maybe especially) the racist himself.

Nothing before or since in my life has effected me in precisely the way this did, and does. The acting is superb, and the writing.... well, Atholl Fugard is a genius.

See this version. I assume the Ving Rhames film is also good, but it has a much larger cast and so I suspect they added a lot of new material to "open it up" as Hollywood likes to do. I'll see it, but you must see this version first. Also, Zakes Mokae won a Tony award for this portrayal of Sam, and it is so obvious as to why. His final soliloquy to Hally made me cry. Then, and now.

In my high school college writing class we were "forced" to watch this movie...all we were told beforehand was there were three actors, one set and a black man's ass....that's it. Well upon watching the movie I felt bored for the first three or five minutes, but I soon realized this movie had so much philosophies and thoughts on social standards, etc, I couldn't help but love this movie. It's been well over a year since I've seen it, and don't remember much of the plot, except Matthew Broderick was the "master of the house" and there are two black servants, that he has always taken for granted. The whole movie is one big discussion on life, and there was one part that just made me (and several other classmates) cry. Truly a masterpiece! A must-see!

I've seen both the movie and a live production of "Master Harold" and it's an incredible, heart-wrenching script. I really enjoyed the movie production as well. If you get the chance to see it, do so, but bring tissues!