Drama Review: A Tale of Bad Blood, A Superb Revival, An Unforgettable Performance

"Master Harold…and the Boys,” Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, Apr. 16 – May 10, 2026

April 20, 2026 | By Bruce R. Feldman

In Brief: John Kani’s monumental performance quietly builds to an emotionally shattering conclusion in this engrossing revival of Athol Fugard’s drama about racial inequality in South Africa under Apartheid.

L-R: Ben Beatty, Nyasha Hatendi and John Kani in Master Harold...and the Boys at Geffen Playhouse. (Photo: Jeff Lorch)

In Master Harold...and the Boys, it's 1950 and torrential rain pounds the windows of the St. George Park Tea Room in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Two Black workers, Willie (Nyasha Hatendi) and Sam (John Kani), are getting the modest restaurant ready to open.

There’s small talk and a dance lesson, too. Willie hopes to compete in a quickstep contest that night, but his girlfriend has vanished after he beat her a few days before. The older Sam gives his colleague a few pointers on his dance routine, along with advice on relationships.

The door opens suddenly. Hally (Ben Beatty) bursts in. His school day is over, and he’s come for his lunch. His parents own the restaurant. Hally’s father is in the hospital. His mother has gone there to be with him, leaving the teenager in the care of the long-time employees.

The conversation between the three touches on various subjects, including a lengthy debate on what it means to be a “man of magnitude” and which historical figures might qualify.

It’s clear that Hally and Sam have an especially close relationship. Hally’s father is an abusive alcoholic. Sam has taken on the job of guiding the young boy into adulthood.

John Kani is monumental in Master Harold...and the Boys. (Photo: Jeff Lorch)

When Sam censures Hally for lashing out at his father, the boy gets angry with Sam. Their interaction quickly becomes ugly. Hally turns against Sam. He demands to be called Master Harold, revealing a lifetime of festering racism instilled in the boy by an abusive father and a societal system of prejudice and repression.

It's chilling to watch, but only a foretaste of the menace to come.

The staging by co-directors Emily Mann (from the McCarter in Princeton) and Tarell Alvin McCraney (the Geffen’s artistic head) is prudently modulated, starting out leisurely and building to an explosive final act.

Every emotional and physical element in this superb production feels just right, down to the unnerving rain that streams behind Beowulf Boritt’s pitch-perfect, meticulously dressed set.

While the cast is uniformly excellent, it’s John Kani who soars in one of the great performances in recent memory. His last twenty-minutes are soul-crushing and unforgettable.

Fugard’s 1982 play has lost none of its punch or resilience. If anything, it’s more meaningful some 50 years later. We once were optimistic. We thought that we could make the world a better place.

Now we understand that humanity’s capacity for hatred is seemingly inexhaustible and that the efforts of caring individuals can do only so much to counteract it.

In a concise 90 minutes with just three characters and one set, Master Harold…and the Boys transcends its simple premise and setting to expose larger fundamental truths. The outstanding production now at The Geffen both validates and honors Fugard’s universal message and his profound talent as one of the most important dramatists of our time.

Do not miss it.

“Master Harold...and the Boys” Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024, geffenplayhouse.org, (310)-208-2028