Current Stage Shows

Our critics weigh in on the local theater

Comments (0) By Ronald Mangravite Thursday, May 13 2004

Master Harold ... and the boys: Athol Fugard's modern classic has to do with the stormy relationship between a white teen and two black family workers in South Africa circa 1950. The fine GableStage production features assured, understated direction from Joseph Adler, which is well supported by some excellent, evocative production design. Paul Bodie and Rodney Gardiner do very well as the workers, finding humor and dignity in ordinary lives, but John Bixler's strident performance as the teenage title role misses much of the character's poignancy. -- RM Presented through May 23 by GableStage at the Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables. 305-445-1119 or www.gablestage.org.

White People at the New Theatre

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The Dining Room: A.R. Gurney's dissection of upper-crust WASP life is given a fine production by director Bruce Lecure and a nimble acting ensemble of six playing 57 roles in a series of interconnected playlets. The production is graced by gentle humor and poignancy but the energy tends to drag at times, and Gurney's writing, as proper and refined as his characters, seems to avoid deep emotions, which when they do crop up are quickly passed over. The result is something like the furniture that dominates the set -- stately, refined, but a bit faded. -- RM Through May 23. Caldwell Theatre Company, 7873 Federal Hwy., Boca Raton. 561-241-7432 or 877-245-7432.

White People:The deeply buried racial prejudice in white America is the subject of J.T. Rogers's series of poetic monologues, a powerful, disturbing theatrical event. Tracking three characters -- a bitter blue-collar woman, a bewildered New York professor, and a hard-driving attorney -- Rogers hammers home his thematic points relentlessly in this intermissionless show. Rafael de Acha's production features a solid acting ensemble, with Bruce Miller a standout as the attorney who's aghast when his estranged teen son commits a dreadful racial hate crime. -- RM Through May 16. New Theatre, 4120 Laguna St., Coral Gables. 305-443-5909.