“Master Harold … and the Boys”Family Focus Theatre Building2010 Dewey Ave. May 12 and 13: 8 p.m.May 14: 3 p.m.$18 adults, $15 for students and seniors
Evanston’s Blue Heron Theatre and Chicago’s TinFish Productions have come together to produce the drama “Master Harold … and the Boys”, showing through June 4 at the Family Focus Theatre Building.
The show, written by South African writer Athol Fugard and directed by TinFish’s Dejan Avramovich, tells the story of two black men and a white boy living in 1950s South Africa.
The play deals with the racial strife of that era, company member Sheila Baker said.
The two black men are servants for the white boy’s mother but also act as mentors for the boy.
“You see that the kid is really confused and doesn’t know what’s happening as his world falls around him,” Baker said. “He’s confused about his family life and his relationship with the two men. The two black men are trying to help him and he’s saying, ‘Don’t overstep your bounds.'”
The show, aimed at a multicultural audience, is “a really touching story” that brings the audience to tears, Baker said.
While not intended exclusively for older audiences, the show may be difficult for younger attendees to understand because of the content, she said.
Blue Heron Theatre is a new non-profit theater group that also offers classes for community members.
They hope to make it a multicultural theater that will reflect Evanston’s own diversity, Baker said.
Bach Week FestivalMusic Institute of Chicago1490 Chicago Ave.May 12: 7:30 p.m. concert, 10 p.m. candlelight concert May 14, 3 p.m. concertFor ticket prices, call 1-800-595-4849
The 32nd annual Bach Week Festival will come to a close this weekend with concerts Friday and Sunday in Nichols Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago.
The concert Friday at 7:30 p.m. will be preceded by drinks and hors d’oeuvres at 6:30 p.m. The concert will feature music by Bach and Italian composers including Vivaldi and Francescini.
Champagne and chocolates will precede the 10 p.m. candlelight concert on Friday. Guitar transcriptions of Bach’s music will be performed by Fareed Haque.
Sunday’s 3 p.m. concert will wrap up the festival with an all-Bach program including the newly discovered Bach aria “Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn’ ihn,” performed by soprano Patrice Michaels.
Karel Paukert founded the Bach Week Festival in 1974 and Richard Webster has directed it ever since.
The festival is a celebration of Bach’s choral and instrumental works and since 1982 has also encompassed the work of lesser-known Baroque composers.
Reach Anna Prior at [email protected].
