John Kani returns to '"Master Harold"... and the Boys' after 40 years: 'It's such an incredible journey'

John Kani was connected his mode to joining the Umkhonto We Sizwe paramilitary helping successful 1965 erstwhile helium took a detour to a Serpent Players play radical rehearsal successful Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

There, Kani’s person Fats Bookholane introduced him to a institution subordinate he’d mistaken for a custodian.

“John, this is Athol,” Bookholane said, gesturing to the legendary South African playwright Athol Fugard. Before that day, Kani had ne'er made the acquaintance of a achromatic idiosyncratic connected a first-name basis.

Fugard’s relationship — on with that of chap Serpent Player Winston Ntshona — became among the astir formative of Kani’s life. Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, the trio created rousing anti-apartheid protestation theatre that brought planetary attraction to South African oppression astatine large idiosyncratic risk. Kani was heavy surveilled, arrested, brutally beaten and adjacent mislaid his near oculus for his perceived indictments of the South African government.

Now, a twelvemonth aft Fugard’s death, Kani — 1 of South Africa’s astir beloved actors — is returning to the acclaimed playwright’s astir idiosyncratic work, “‘Master Harold’... and the Boys,” opening Thursday astatine the Geffen Playhouse. The play, which centers connected the fraught narration betwixt a achromatic South African teen and 2 Black employees who enactment for his family, is co-directed by Emily Mann and the Geffen’s Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney, with Kani co-starring alongside Ben Beatty and Nyasha Hatendi.

Ben Beatty, left, and John Kani successful “‘Master Harold’... and the Boys” astatine the Geffen Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

During an interrogation aft a caller rehearsal, Kani said helium views his relation arsenic the elder employee, Sam, successful the Geffen accumulation arsenic a tribute to Fugard, without whom the histrion whitethorn ne'er person pursued theater. When Kani archetypal met Fugard, respective starring opponents of apartheid including Nelson Mandela had conscionable been convicted and imprisoned connected Robben Island, and anticipation for liberation was moving dry.

“I was precise angry. I had the burning tendency for freedom, and I knew the state is connected the different broadside of the street, meaning white, meaning I got to termination each those radical to get my freedom,” Kani said.

Fugard told him, “I tin assistance you archer stories. I don’t cognize however to marque a bomb.”

“Without bumping into him that day, I would ne'er person been successful the arts astatine all,” Kani said.

“I americium genuinely blessed that astatine 82, I’ve been fixed the accidental to archer this communicative again for this audience, successful tribute to this fantastic man,” John Kani said.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Kani’s best-known show successful “‘Master Harold’” is arsenic the younger employee, Willie, successful the 1984 movie adaptation co-starring Matthew Broderick and Zakes Mokae. However, Kani played Sam successful the play’s 1983 South African premiere, adding an other furniture of meaning to his Geffen reprisal of the role.

In his earliest appearances arsenic Sam, Kani had to use grey constitution to his beard and temples to beryllium believable arsenic the middle-aged employee. More than 40 years later, astatine 82, helium has the other problem.

“Look astatine me,” helium jested, pulling disconnected his headdress to uncover sparse pearly fuzz.

Nonetheless, Mann insisted that Kani was suited for the role, telling him, “you are present the close property to recognize what this play is.”

“So present I’m back, the aforesaid but a small older and I cognize a small more, and it’s specified an unthinkable journey,” Kani said.

Directing the amusement has besides been an epic escapade for Mann, dating backmost to a bid of trips she took to Soweto successful the precocious ‘80s to talk with Winnie Mandela.

Back then, Mann was recruited to constitute a miniseries astir the activistic and woman of Nelson Mandela. She knew she needed overmuch much item than she could glean from paper clippings, truthful she traveled to Soweto. Winnie was nether location arrest, and Fugard helped Mann get successful to spot her.

“When I was there, her location was changeable astatine and astir firebombed twice. I mean, it was unsmooth times,” Mann said. “Why I thought I was truthful immortal? I person nary idea, and judge me, my household was not pleased. But it was an bonzer accidental to recognize that world, and I wasn’t going to fto that communicative go.”

“It’s sad, but besides bully to beryllium connected with John and spot the travel of [“‘Master Harold’”] and this caller iteration of it today,” Nyasha Hatendi said.

(Jeff Lorch)

Fugard erstwhile told Mann she took much trips to Soweto successful a azygous period than helium did successful his full lifetime. “At immoderate rate, helium enactment his beingness connected the enactment for longer,” she said.

In Mann’s eyes, the South African government’s disastrous bid for implicit governmental powerfulness is simply a cautionary communicative with peculiar resonance today.

“This is precisely the play and the close infinitesimal for this play successful America, oregon possibly worldwide, due to the fact that of what’s going connected politically successful the world,” Mann said. “We’re slipping into authoritarianism and achromatic supremacy again, and this play reminds you of the effects of some of those evils.”

At the aforesaid time, “‘Master Harold,’” which hews intimately to Fugard’s ain experiences, is simply a communicative of hope.

With its formed of characters fundamentally plucked from Fugard’s aboriginal beingness successful Port Elizabeth, the play introduces Hally (a stand-in for Fugard) astatine a crossroads. In his precocious teens, Hally finds himself torn betwixt his kid and big selves — the erstwhile adoring Sam and Willie, and the second taught to hatred them.

“Athol knew the poison successful his begetter was wrong,” Mann said. “He knew successful his gut that this strategy was wrong, and helium knew it early, but helium besides got infected. He said helium was good connected his mode to what could person go an unthinkable bigot, but it was [the real-life] Sam that pulled him backmost from the cliff.”

“If you look astatine Hally successful this play, helium was destined to beryllium a achromatic racist. Everything astir his beingness — his family, his school, his situation — ever preach 1 thing: you’re white, you’re white, you’re white,” Kani echoed.

“Then the occurrence happened,” the histrion said: Fugard emerged from that milieu an impassioned writer fixed connected defying achromatic supremacy done his work.

When the formed is rehearsing astatine the Geffen, helium added, “[Fugard] is contiguous successful that room.”

“The top acquisition of Athol Fugard is to archer a precise arguable governmental story, and disregard the authorities of it wholly and conscionable travel the quality beings. He ever said to me, ‘Leave the leaders successful front, constitute astir the radical behind,’” John Kani said.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

For Geffen co-stars Beatty and Hatendi, it has been a privilege to enactment alongside 2 radical who knew Fugard truthful intimately and understood apartheid South Africa truthful thoroughly.

“We person an encyclopedia of discourse that John tin supply america astir not conscionable Athol himself — Hally, Athol — but each of the characters successful the play,” Beatty said, adding that having existent stories to notation has made his enactment onstage consciousness much authentic.

But Mann and Kani are besides cautious not to restrict the play to their realities, knowing that to consciousness existent today, the communicative needs country to breathe.

“John and Emily astatine slightest from my acquisition person been unfastened to letting things evolve,” Hatendi said. “There’s inactive discoveries that are being made successful the country that are informing the mode that they play it.”

That “weird, fantastic alchemy” volition lone deepen with audiences’ interpretations of the show, the histrion added.

Kani thinks astir his relation successful this accumulation somewhat similar his relation arsenic a grandfather. He answers questions erstwhile he’s asked, but he’s besides learning not to overexplain. Just precocious with his granddaughter, helium astir slipped into a lecture, erstwhile helium thought amended of it.

“Let her marque her ain footpaths and full people successful this world,” helium told himself. “Let her spot this satellite with antithetic eyes, afloat of hope.”

And adjacent though it’s not each day, helium said, “I sometimes aftermath up that way.”