James A. Williams, Allison Gallerani and Stephen Tyrone Williams in Athol Fugard's "My Children! My Africa!," which has been extended off-Broadway. Photo by Joan Marcus.
"My Children! My Africa!," which has drawn rave reviews, has been extended off-Broadway at the Signature Theater's new auditorium in Times Square.
The Athol Fugard drama stars Twin Cities stalwart James A. Williams as idealistic black teacher Thami, also known as Mr. M, in apartheid South Africa. He facilitates a friendship between a talented black student and a white student from a nearby segregated academy. The young people's friendship is tested by racial unrest outside of the classroom.
The production, which now closes June 17, features music composed by Bobby McFerrin.
The Daily News review began: "Between Athol Fugard's potent script and the cast that brings it vividly to life, Signature's new production of 'My Children! My Africa!' packs a one-two wallop. It deserves both of those exclamation points."
Variety describes Williams' performance as superb: "Williams is never less than a strong presence from the moment he comes onstage, but he's positively riveting in a beautiful -- and painful -- soliloquy in which Thami reveals the secret thoughts and buried feelings that have transformed him from a scholar into a fighter.
New York Times chief critic Ben Brantley said: "'My Children' is crowded with metaphors. Yet the actors give a visceral life to sustained poetic notions that find the human inconsistency and inexorability in Mr. Fugard's careful images. The way James A. Williams, for example, embodies the different phases of a dream Mr. M describes — a dream that evolves into a nightmare reality — is heartbreaking."
Williams will take a one-day pause from "My Children!" on Saturday. He returns to his alma mater, Macalester College, to receive its Distinguished Citizen Award.
