“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)
This is the first performance of the play, and Amy Jephta’s writing is startling. It’s a fast-paced script which has you laughing one minute and shrinking into your seat in uncomfortable horror the next. The racism, and Sihle and Bonolo’s differing reactions to it, are hard to witness. On reading the play text afterwards I see that the Zulu words Sihle speaks in the last few minutes translate as “Remember to be invisible and move slowly so you don’t wake them. Sometimes it is best not to wake them; few things in the world are as dangerous as sleepwalkers.” I didn’t need to understand the words as they were performed to grasp their meaning.
At one hour 40 minutes with no interval, A Good House speeds by. Though a comedic play on the surface, this is far more serious than that with the comedy a way of highlighting these issues and microaggressions. Uncomfortable to watch at times but always captivating, this is an exceptionally written piece brought to life by a consistently stunning cast. Though they’re only occupying the space at Royal Court for a short time, I would love to see this compelling show return to London for a longer stay in the near future.
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
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