Next Act’s powerful study of apartheid packs an emotional wallop
Racism is an ugly word, but it is a far uglier reality.
The state-sanctioned racism of apartheid is the backdrop for Athol Fugard’s ” ‘Master Harold’ . . . and the boys.” The racism that flows between a white teenager and the two black men employed in his parent’s restaurant is the poignant foreground.
Next Act Theatre’s powerful production of the play opened Friday at the Off-Broadway Theatre, under the direction of C. Michael Wright. His long history with the play includes a brief stint on Broadway, a six-month national tour and a production at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.
Wright avoids the melodrama and sanctimony that are often applied to productions of the play. He creates instead an unflinchingly human picture that is as meaningful now as it was in height of apartheid. It is emotionally deafening while quietly understated and unhurried, while beautifully paced.