“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.
The play’s action is more than once interrupted as lights change and Sihle and Bonolo invite us into their thoughts, subjective and a bit surreal, to comment on the attitudes of the whites. These are great moments, but they add to a general sense of incoherence, as if the play can’t decide whether it is about ideas or people. Still, there is a lot of enjoyably satirical material: we are encouraged to mock Bonolo’s pretentious admiration of her wine aerator and special cheese knife; Jess’s cake is a farcical prop; how laughter is used to defuse social tensions. Sihle occasionally talks to Bonolo in Zulu, a language she doesn’t understand.
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
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