“Once they’ve been here long enough, they’re no longer squatters. Then they’re simply... Neighbours.”
In the quaint suburban community of Stillwater, a mysterious shack springs up from the dust with the inhabitants nowhere to be seen.
As speculation abounds, new residents Sihle and Bonolo are recruited by their neighbourhood to be the face of a campaign to demolish the shack in this biting satire of community politics.
A Good House is a thrilling and comedic new work, from writer Amy Jephta, about a couple who discover the limits of good neighbourliness and what is required to fit in.
Directed by Nancy Medina (Trouble in Mind, National Theatre), A Good House is a co-production with Bristol Old Vic in association with The Market Theatre, Johannesburg.
A Good House was originally co-commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre with the Fugard Theatre, South Africa.
__Assisted Performances__
Chilled performance: Saturday 1st Feb 1:30pm
Captioned performance: Tuesday 2nd Feb 7:30pm (familiarization tour at 7pm)
Audio-Described performance: Saturday 8th February 1:30pm (touch tour at 12pm)
All of the characters become at some point unconvincing as they contort to move the debate forward, but Mimî M Khayisa and Sifiso Mazibuko are impressive in the tricky roles of Bonolo and Sihle. Robyn Rainsford is very funny as Jess, constantly trying to rebalance her chakras in the face of excruciating social embarrassment. Scott Sparrow is an irredeemably boorish Boer as Christopher. This isn’t perfect but it’s perceptive, provoking fun.
Amy Jephta’s play A Good House is a worthy exploration of prejudice and privilege. There’s even a state-of-the-nation essence to its depiction of characters who complain how race, class or wealth is holding them back, while being unable to acknowledge which corner of this triangle offers them advantages. But while spiky exchanges thinly veiled as neighbourliness air these uncomfortable truths, it feels unfocused, as if unsure whether it wants to be a play about racism or capitalism. And while both ‘isms’ are addressed, it doesn’t peer under the bonnet of either of them thoroughly enough.
2025 | West End |
West End |
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