Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold and the boys” review

‘Master Harold and the Boys’ is a proudly South African play written by world renowned and local boy, Athol Fugard. The play based on his own personal life and experiences tackles hard hitting socio-political topics is South Africa. The play is based on a real incident in Fugard’s life which rook place in his mother’s business, “the St Georges Park Tea Room” in Port Elizabeth, 1950. In this incident, Fugard – who plays the character of Master Harold or Hally – witnesses the corrupting power of apartheid through his own actions, namely racism.
Fugard wrote this play about his human relationships he encountered that were put to the test by societal and personal forces. In the beginning of the play, fugard returned from school to the Tea Room to have lunch and to hang around like he usually does everyday. Two main characters are introduced into the play, that of ‘Sam’ and ‘Willie’. Sam and Willie are both Black and in their mid forties, who both work in the St Georges Tea Room. Sam, the waiter, seems to be the wiser and more mature of the two, is an expert ballroom dancer and plays a dominant role in Hally’s life. Willie on the other hand has a mutual respect for Hally and Sam, and is the uneducated cleaner who is being tutored but Sam for a dance competition he is taking part in .Hally respects Sam and teaches him all the work that he has learnt. This was still in the apartheid years, so the racial hierarchy was still a major factor of that time, offcourse, whites being the highest. The use of bad language in his conversations with Sam and Willie shows the lack of respect for elders that he has. His way of speaking to his parents and other white elders differ to a great extent than his mothers black employees. This shows the unconscious hierarchy taking effect due to the affects of the apartheid era, even on children like him. The racial hierarchy and respect, or the lack thereof is one of the themes that occur throughout the play. One line that emphasises this is, “don’t turn your back on me! I haven’t finished talking” and “mind your own fucking business and shut up” (page 42-43).
Hally’s father is in hospital and his mother alongside him after receiving a phone call from the hospital whilst him being at school. Sam was instructed by Hally’s mother to inform Hally that she was off to the hospital and would give him a call a later, which he delivered on. First, it seemed that Hally was confused as to why his mother had rushed to the hospital, as the previous night he looked in no condition to be discharged. It seemed as if his father might have taken a turn for the worst. However, eventually receiving a phone call from his mother informing him that his father would be discharged caused the twist of events. Instead of being relieved, Hally became infuriated with the news. This is where the relationship between his father and him were exposed. This is another important part of the play in that it seemed as if Hally was worried about the health and well-being of his father, which was certainly not the case. Fugard used this kind of relationship between a drunken father and son as a social problem that happened and still happens behind closed doors in society. This was another one of his socio-political issues he addresses. As this play is a memory of his past that has continued to haunt him, Fugard must have been a victim of an unstable and unhappy household. Fugard uses the lines, “I’m sick and tired of emptying stinking chamberpots full of phlegm and piss” (page 38), to show his utter dislike for his father even in his ill situation. Fugard portrays this theme of domestic unhappiness and turmoil through these scenes. Fugard used his own life situation and portrayed it in this play as a trigger to explode into the unpredictable and unforseen climax.
The climax of the play was when Hally started bad-mouthing his father in front of Sam and Willie. Sam makes a conscious effort to calm his rage and stop him in his tracks before he says something that he would regret. Then Hally turns on Sam and plays the racial hierarchy card by filtering his anger for his father towards him. This is when Hally goes overboard and starts attacking Sam with racial comments, jokes and remarks. He now demands to be referred to as Master Harold, and reminds them of whom and what they are. “You are only a servant in here, and don’t forget it”, “All you need to remember is that he is your boss” and “He’s a white man and that’s good enough for you” (page 42-43) are lines that Hally said to Sam to put him in his racially oppressed place. This is the major climax of the story containing the theme of racism. Fugard lived in the times of apartheid and this incident haunted him all through his illustrious life. This was a very difficult time in history as the racial oppression undermined people in South Africa and classed them according to skin colour.


Fugard critically focused most of his work on the injustices of the apartheid system. Government officials called many of Fugard's works subversive and attempted to prevent publication and/or production of his plays several times. Much of his early work was presented to small private audiences to avoid government censorship. The play was officially banned by the South African government. "Master Harold''…and the Boys earned the Drama Desk Award and Critics Circle Award for best play in 1983, and London's Evening Standard Award in 1984. The play has subsequently earned a place in contemporary world drama, undergoing frequent revivals around the world and a vital work valued for both its universal themes of humanity and its skilled theatre craft.
Fugard is famous for his hard-hitting truths and realities he was apart of, guilty of or have witnessed throughout his childhood and adult life. He uses a creative writing style that allows his works to come across as satirical and humorous but targeting many of the sensitive issues of South Africa’s, Mainly Port Elizabeth’s past. Many other issues were exposed by Fugard such as “A lesson from aloes”, “Marigolds in August”, “Tsotsi”, “Boesman and Lena”, “People are living there”, “Hello and Goodbye”, “Valley song”, “Exits and Entrances”, “No Good Friday”, “The Blood Knot” to mention but a few
Athol Fugard shows us the human potential for racism and social conflict imbedded in all of us. Through the use of style e.g. metaphors, he paints a picture of the present and past state of human relationships and associations with each other and as a whole. He reveals the psychoses present within the human mind and condition that make racism and political strife possible. At the same time, Fugard successfully reveals how simple it is to resolve society’s struggle of hate, prejudice, and oppression, by telling the stories of one man, himself.