Theater Review: Master Harold and the Boys

by Gina Robertson of John Garcia's The Column

DESOTO — Segregation in America and apartheid in South Africa may be gone, but the emotional impact remains strong in stories like Master Harold and the Boys, presented by the African-American Repertory Theater in Desoto. Many of us have no memory of a society in which rigid laws govern the public places that a certain race of people may or may not have access to. Unfamiliar with such a society, we still know enough about racial tension to understand what it was like.

Sam and Willie are black servants who have worked for Hally's family for many years. Sam has been a father figure to both younger men, but this role has been particularly fraught with awkwardness for Hally because he is white and because his own father, a crippled drunk, is an embarrassment and a burden to him.

In a society where whites are, by law, superior to blacks, Hally struggles with the fact that he admires his family's black servant more than his own white father. To reconcile this, Hally rebels against his surrogate father and tries to assume his "proper" role as white master but crosses boundaries with the two men that may cause irreparable damage to their relationship. Sam's paternal wisdom and maturity is called upon again to recover, and he demonstrates in the end why he is a better man than young Hally or his father.

The set is nicely staged and lighted. The rich detail gives the feeling of a 1950s café while the sounds of rain, thunder, and passing cars emerge now and then to enhance the scene. In a play like this, though, the story is told by the actors, and these three are quite up to the task. Although the accents meander around the globe a bit, from Jamaica to Australia, to Ireland, to southeast Texas, they successfully convey the South African setting, which is somewhere far but not very far from us, in a past that we can almost remember.

The men talk of ballroom dancing and Willie's habit of beating his dance partner when she can't keep up. Bill Ray as Sam is patient and encouraging in coaching Willie, but he delights in teasing the younger man to provoke a reaction. Ray and Christopher Piper (Willie) do a fantastic job establishing the relationship between these men. Both convey the necessary deference to their employer and to the ruling class while making it clear that they do not agree with it.

They also demonstrate the comfort ability expected in servants who've been around long enough to be almost like family. Piper brings charisma and enthusiasm to the role but lacks the aggression of a man who beats up on women. He seems good natured even when his temper is raised by Sam's teasing. In the Hally-heavy dialogue sections, more stage business is needed for Ray and Piper because they spend an unnatural amount of time just thoughtfully watching and listening to Hally talk. Particularly when Hally's reminiscing fondly about the old days, the men would hardly be so fascinated with what he's saying to stop whatever they're doing just to listen. This also would give more contrast to the dramatic sections when the men should stop and give their complete attention to what's going on.

Andrew Bourgeois as Hally is especially good on the telephone. He has also mastered the emotional ambivalence that Hally feels on many levels. He loves and hates his father. He looks up to Sam but feels he should command his respect. His anger is suppressed, deflected, and released on Sam, and he clearly knows he's doing the wrong thing even as he's doing it. He doesn't know how to stop it or repair the damage once it's done, relying once again on the old man to lead the way.

Ray embodies a sense of grace and calm that breaks in a surprising moment of near-violence when he makes a lunge at Hally, the boy who has taught him from his school books and treated him like a friend. This is powerful, for it conveys his frustration with apartheid in general, directed for a moment at the one white man he may hope to influence in a positive way toward changing it.

I agree with director Sharon Benge in her Director's Notes, the ending is hopeful and the dance will go on. All three characters have learned something meaningful in the course of the play, and they will come to the café tomorrow somewhat changed. For us, the audience, we too are changed by this story, and we'll have much to think about as our dance goes on as well.