'Master Harold’...and the boys - National Theatre

Can't wait to see this , though it will be hard to top the original Broadway production with Zakes Mokae, Danny Glover and Lonny Price. And the gilm version directed by Price and featuring Ving Rhames and Freddie Higmore is pretty terrific as well. This play and The Road to Mecca are, I think Fugard's masterworks.

Are there any offers/day seats? I've never yet actually managed to see a play at the National! Also are the £15 'slips' as indicated on the seating plan very restricted view or worth it for the price?

I was able to book a £15 front stalls seat through the website on the day. It’s worth having a check for any returns or unsold day seats that go onto there.

This is highly recommended. As has been mentioned it's a bit of a slow burner but then it really delivers. It's bookended with two lovely songs from the great Sarah Vaughan with an understated, but very satisfying, coup de theatre at the end. (Is 'understated coup de theatre' an oxymoron? - never mind, I didn't want to perpetrate a spoiler.)

Immaculate performances all round and the end is quietly very moving.

a well acted revival of this wonderful play.A must see.

I saw this yesterday evening, having been persuaded by posts here. Certainly I can see why it has had glowing reviews and last night the applause went on for ages, many people gave a standing ovation and the cast had to do multiple curtain calls.

For me however it was simply too long at 1 hour 40 without an interval. I can see that to insert one would have broken the momentum and maybe it was my fault for booking the cheapest type of seat but ow! After less than an hour on those inhospitable seats I was sneaking looks at my watch and looking forward to escaping the discomfort. I have booked a better seat in the past if the length and reviews made it seem worthwhile (eg Small Island), but had thought, mistakenly, that I could get away with it for this.

Just seen this, this evening. I love the way Fugard takes a single aspect of Apartheid and weaves a story around it (In 'Sizwe' it's the ID Card).

Concur with others that Boon's accent is not great for the first 30 minutes or so - he seemed to be trying too hard with it. Msamati was just superb though - a real masterclass in acting.

I did feel that it felt slow in the first 45-60 minutes, but I think it needs it, so that what happens nearer the end is more emotionally devastating. And that gentle Coup de Theatre at the end is something that I suspect can only be included with the hindsight that comes from being in 2019 and knowing what happened in South Africa in the intervening time period.

I was sat in the circle, and the girl behind me was obviously very unaware of the tendency for characters to display their backsides in South African theatre set in the apartheid era - so her commentary during that bit was fun! She'd also fallen foul of the NT's 'only one very small bag rule', and was being berated by her father before-hand for having left all her valuables in the cloakroom - she was trying to explain that she didn't have any pockets (a huge problem with female clothing), and dad was honestly being a bit of a cumudgeon about it. I had two bags with me, put one inside the other and kept some of the contents of one of them in my hand as I went into the auditorium, and immeadiately divided my stuff back out into the 2 bags when I sat down. This was a good tactic, as the queue at the cloakroom after the show was huge.

I was on row H, and 6 or 7 seats next to me were all empty. Almost the entirety of rows E and F were also empty - gosh, I wonder where the ticket prices changed..

Seat frankly somewhat uncomfortable, and despite the generous rake, the world's tallest man in front of me meant I had to sit at a weird angle to be able to see the stage properly.

In summary - show good: user experience, not so much.