Master Harold and the Boys

By: Athol Fugard

Narrated by: Leon Addison Brown, Keith David, Bobby Steggert

Length: 1 hr and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Academy Award-winner Athol Fugard, one of theatre's most acclaimed playwrights, finds humor and heartbreak in the friendship of Harold, a 17-year-old white boy in 1950s South Africa, and the two middle-aged black servants who raised him. Racism unexpectedly shatters Harold's childhood and friendships in this absorbing, affecting coming-of-age play.

The play, initially banned from production in South Africa, is a Drama Desk Award winner for Outstanding New Play.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Leon Addison Brown, Keith David, and Bobby Steggert.

©1982 Athol Fugard (P)2015 L.A Theatre Works

Fabulous Story!

Would you listen to Master Harold and the Boys again? Why?

Absolutely! I taught this in my Drama unit to 10th graders. This live performance-like taping was wonderful!

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Plays are meant to be experienced, not just read. This production brought the text to life.

Amazing performance!

Loved the play. It was acted out with passion by the actors. Great job to everyone. I definitely recommend this auiobook to everyone.

Not Recommended

It took me several times to force myself through this. It reminded me of the horrible, boring, overracted, unnatural plays we had to watch in school. Not my cup of tea.

Feeling that white privelege and shame today.

Where does Master Harold and the Boys rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the better audio books with multiple actors to read individual parts.

What did you like best about this story?

The soft but firm lesson of white privilege spit back in the face of the child who literally spits in the face of his black servant.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene where Sam describes why he did not stay to celebrate the successful flight of their kite.

Terrific Performances

Sometimes there's nothing like a good play to keep one awake and alert on the road, and this is a solidly good production. Listening to this play--classic Athol Fugard, wonderfully performed by the three impeccable leads--makes you feel as if you're sitting in the front row of the theater watching a live performance. Also, the play is followed by an interesting interview with the playwright, who tells some astonishing true stories of his youth and young adulthood helping black actors organize an illegal integrated theatre company in 1980s Apartheid-era South Africa. In that interview, he explains that this play was inspired by his real-life experience as a young white boy who both loved and was shockingly permitted to boss the adult black males he looked up to as father figures. Highly recommended.

Master Harold

Master Harold style provides suspense and reveals a culture in this complex tapestry. Well done!