This play about a young white boy and two African servants is at once a compelling drama of South African apartheid and a universal coming-of-age story. Originally produced in 1982, it is now an acknowledged classic of the stage, whose themes of injustice, racism, friendship, and reconciliation traverse borders and time.
“In ‘Master Harold’ . . . and the boys the author has journeyed so deep into the psychosis of racism that all national boundaries quickly fall away, that no one is left unimplicated by his vision. . . . Mr. Fugard has forced us to face point-blank, our capacity for hate . . . but we’re also left with the exultant hope that we may yet practice compassion without stumbling. . . . The choice, of course, is ours. Mr. Fugard’s wrenching play, which insists that we make it, is beyond beauty.”
–Frank Rich, The New York Times
“An exhilarating play . . . a triumph of playmaking, and unforgettable!” –New York Post
“One of Fugard’s most universal works of theatre. It operates on two levels: as the story of a loving but lacerating relationship between a black man and a white boy; and . . . as a powerful political statement about apartheid.” –Mel Gussow, New Yorker
“The greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world.” –Time
