Go! REVIEW

Although it’s set in the 1950s in Apartheid-era South Africa, “Master Harold and the Boys” still resonates.

This coming-of-age story concerns a young white South African boy/man and his relationship with two black men who work in his mother’s tea shop.

While Hallie, as the older of the two men refer to him, struggles with homework and the pending return home of his abusive, alcoholic father, Willie (Landon E. Horton) and Sam (Reginald Willis)are concerned with the ballroom dancing championship a mere two weeks away.

When he was a child, Harold (University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music student Kyle Nunn) had a close relationship with the men, especially Willie, who would make kites for him. But as he grows and matures, becoming increasingly cynical of the world, his relationship with the men change. Harold now finds himself in a position of superiority, and willing to gloat a little about it.

Indeed, this rainy day in which the events of the play transpire may be the last day that Sam calls him “Hallie.”

“Master Harold” is now the appellation.

Underscoring their relationship is the tense racial relationships of the day. It’s interesting to note that Willie and Sam are concerned about competing in an event brought to their homeland by the white English and Dutch settlers, forsaking their own tribal heritage. Harold, however, has no interest whatever in the event until he realizes that he could write about their dreams as “an annual event of cultural significance” for a term paper assignment.

When Harold asks what happens when they bump into each other on the dance floor, Willie describes “a world without collisions,” in which the couples strive for perfection, trying to fit into a world where cultures are colliding from the outset.

“Master Harold and the Boys” is a telling of another sort of cultural collision. All three actors bring a smooth energy and style to the production. While their accents aren’t exactly dead-on some of the time, they are sufficient to lend time and place to the show.

The Harriet Tubman Auditorium at the Underground Railroad Freedom Center wasn’t built for theater, but New Edgecliff has done a credible job of making the conversion and compensating for the shortcomings of the space.
 

how to go
WHO: New Edgecliff Theatre presents “Master Harold and the Boys” by Athol Fugard.
WHERE: The National Underground Freedom Center’s Harriet Tubman Theater, 50 East Freedom Way, Cincinnati.
WHEN: through March 4.
COST:  $18 adult; $14 senior/students.
MORE INFO:  888-588-0137; newedgecliff.com.