Mimî M Khayisa and Sifiso Mazibuko in A Good House [Camilla Greenwell]

AMY Jephta’s whip-smart drama is set in a suburban South African neighbourhood.

A black couple, Bonolo (Mimî M Khayisa) and Sihle (Sifiso Mazibuko), are the proud owners of a house in the middle-class community of Stillwater. They’re both university-educated and worked hard to get where they are.

When a mysterious shack springs up, residents unknown, their white neighbours Chris (Scott Sparrow) and Lynette (Olivia Darnley) decide to take action, and visit Bonolo and Sihle to enlist their help.

Another couple, yoga teacher Jess (Robyn Rainsford) and her anxious husband Andrew (Kai Luke Brummer), are concerned that the “eyesore” will decrease the value of their home.
Bonding over wine, cheese and homemade cake, chinks in the neighbours’ armour begin to be revealed as the couples share their differing attitudes to the tin house, and we dissect their social status within the community.

ULTZ’s clever design ensures Bonolo and Sihle’s view is obscured by their African wall hangings, while Jess and Andrew can’t miss the “obscene” dwelling from their french windows.

Meanwhile, the unwelcome structure continues to grow and sprout appendages. The two white couples want Bonolo and Sihle to take the lead in the eviction order they’ve prepared, ostensibly because they believe the occupants are black.

Jephta’s layered play is full of telling details. Even the scene changes in Nancy Medina’s nimble production prove illuminating with home furnishings reflecting the neighbours’ class and culture.

A Good House is a brilliant satire on race, prejudice and the lengths one must go to truly belong.

until February 8
royalcourttheatre.com/