MOSCOW – The Idaho Repertory Theatre (IRT), the University of Idaho's professional summer theater, is scheduled to present its first play of the summer season, “Master Harold…and the Boys.” There will be six performances, beginning with the opening night on Friday, July 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Forge Theater, 404 Sweet Ave. in Moscow.

Additional show dates and times are:

• 19:30 Saturday, July 6
• 2pm Sunday, July
• 19:30 Friday, July 12
• 19:30 Saturday, July 13
• 2:00 p.m. Sunday, July 14

A thrilling play of lasting significance, Master Harold was written by South African playwright and novelist Athol Fugard and is about his relationship with the two waiters he grew up with in his mother's tea shop. The play is a coming-of-age drama featuring guest artists Tyler Madden, EM Harris and Jacob McGaughey, a U of I theatre student from Coeur d'Alene.

“'Master Harold' makes it seem like we've done the hard work of defeating racism,” said guest director Baron Kelly, a distinguished theater professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It's easy to watch this play in a comfortable chair and imagine that the monsters of yesterday are safely in the closet or even banished to the shadows entirely. I hope that the challenge of watching this play is to witness it and realize that the monsters have escaped again, that this play represents not only our past but also our possible future.”

“Master Harold” won the Drama Desk Award, the Critics Circle Award for Best Play and the London Evening Standard Award.

“The powerful image of ballroom dancing as a metaphor for understanding and collaboration moves us as an audience,” said Robert Caisley, IRT Production Manager.

Tickets are free for U of I students and range from $6 to $26 for the public and are on sale now at uitickets.com.

For information about other upcoming Department of Theatre Arts events, visit uidaho.edu/theatre.