Mar 23, 2010 12:20 AM | By Refiloe LepereSelf-exploration is never easy, and James Ngcobo's version of Athol Fugard's autobiographical production, Master Harold and the Boys is a gentle, unsympathetic portrayal of this kind of analysis.
The play opens with a servant Willie (Nat Ramabulana) setting up the tearoom with cakes, a jukebox, tables and chairs. He is joined by Sam ( Pakamisa Zwedala).
Even though the story is more a personal tale of Fugard's childhood, it has resonance with anyone who has experienced oppression.
Set in the 1950s, the play looks at the minute expressions of racial interaction and oppression. Father mistreats wife and son, son ill-treats the servants, servant abuses his wife, and the chain of abuse goes on.
In a simple setting, Harold Jnr, or Hally, played by Daniel Buckland, is a teenager who comes for lunch at the family-owned tea-room.
The news that Hally's invalid, alcoholic father is to be allowed home from hospital upsets him deeply. He suddenly turns on his best friends, the boys Willie and Sam.
The shock of this racist outburst shows how the political and social realities of South Africa at that time came to distort and dominate our closest relationships and, in some cases, still do.
Ramabulana, who has starred in theatre and TV productions, including Isidingo , said that when he encountered the play, he was moved by the powerful, honest and emotional tale.
"As an actor the challenge was to show the stories of these men in a respectful and real manner because they did exist and their stories were important to them," he said.
The real test for this 26-year-old was how to portray a 40-year-old and be sensitive to his weariness, and understand his personal struggle amid the world's torments.
Master Harold and the Boys is on at the Old Mutual Theatre on the Square, Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg. It runs until April 10.
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