"Master Harold"... and the Boys

Renowned dramatist Athol Fugard sets an incongruous scene against the backdrop of 1950s South African apartheid: two black men are practicing ballroom dancing in a tea room, when the white son of the shop’s boorish owner returns home from school. Unexpectedly, the disparate trio settle in for a rainy afternoon of laughter, nostalgia, and enlightenment together. But when old family secrets stir up lingering demons, both “Master Harold” and “the Boys” are quickly reminded of their true loyalties. This “lyrical,” “shattering,” and “enduring” (New York Times) parable reminds us all that institutional oppression has personal repercussions.