A GOOD HOUSE

Royal Court

★★★★

“The performances and the dynamics are gripping”

The time is now. The setting is the evocatively named small town of Stillwater which, we are told is located ‘wherever that may be’. Although it is clear we are in South Africa. But switch the accents and we could be anywhere in the world; from the Redneck belt of the Southern US to a provincial English backwater. The poignancy that oozes from Amy Jephta’s one act play, “A Good House”, is universal. The smalltown sensibilities that fester unchecked on a microscope slide are magnified into a thrilling and acerbic dissection of community politics. Bitter, sweet, dangerous and funny; it challenges and twists our expectations.

Sihle (Sifiso Mazibuko) and Bonolo (Mimî M Khayisa) are new to the area. They are getting to know relative old timers Chris (Scott Sparrow) and Lynette (Olivia Darnley). It is, in fact, two years since Sihle and Bonolo moved to the neighbourhood: a telling fact. A brief, highly charged prologue precedes the opening scenes in which Sihle and Chris first meet each other under different circumstances. It sets up the dynamics and highlights the innate and institutionalised racism that is embedded in the tarmac of the residents’ matching driveways. We think we are in Mike Leigh territory for a moment. Wine is slowly (alas too slowly) poured and polite conversation trips over awkward faux pas. But Jephta pulls it out by the scruff of the neck, while Nancy Medina’s direction cracks the whip, drives out the Pinteresque pauses and sends it galloping off through the overlapping dialogue.

Sparrow’s Chris is clumsily ‘right on’ and obsequious in the extreme. We quickly know that he can’t be trusted. Similarly, Darnley’s over-eager Lynette is a Cape Town Sloane Ranger – if such a thing exists. Sihle and Bonolo have sussed them out. A freeze-frame device intermittently sets certain characters in suspended animation while the others are free to vent the true feelings that lie hidden beneath the chit chat. The performances and the dynamics are gripping. Mazibuko fills the stage with the imposing figure of Sihle, seemingly – and only initially – compliant with the reactions provoked by his skin colour and background. Khayisa’s portrayal of the no-nonsense Bonolo is a master stroke that surprises us with some refreshingly unexpected views on society and race.

In their suburban community, a mysterious shack has sprung up – the inhabitants nowhere to be seen. Speculation abounds as to who is responsible for this eyesore, and with this speculation the petty bigotry feeds on itself and multiplies. Andrew (Kai Luke Brummer) and Jess (Robyn Rainsford) are the couple most affected, the shack being on their doorstep. Brummer and Rainsford are a perfect match depicting the ‘perfect suburban couple’ – in other words gauche and full of gaffes, embarrassing indiscretions, bigotry and fanaticism.

The shack, although a real structure, is also clearly an allegory. The anonymity of its occupants is seen as being dangerous. Fear abounds, naturally. The writing and the performances ridicule and make a mockery of it all, quite rightly, but also highlight the conflicts and the tensions. The petty prejudices cut far deeper than overt racism. We get a real sense of the institutionalised racism that breeds in these small-town minds that, if left untended, can grow like knotweed.

“A Good House” is a very modern satire. Its façade is a comedy but behind its closed doors lies quite a different story. If I were you, I’d think twice about borrowing a cup of sugar in Stillwater. But I wouldn’t think twice about seeing the play. Just be prepared to find splinters of glass mixed in with the sugar.

A GOOD HOUSE

Royal Court

Reviewed on 17th January 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Camilla Greenwell

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE BOUNDS | ★★★ | June 2024

LIE LOW | ★★★★ | May 2024

BLUETS | ★★★ | May 2024

GUNTER | ★★★★ | April 2024

COWBOIS | ★★★★★ | January 2024

MATES IN CHELSEA | ★★★ | November 2023

CUCKOO | ★★½ | July 2023

BLACK SUPERHERO | ★★★★ | March 2023

FOR BLACK BOYS … | ★★★★★ | April 2022

A GOOD HOUSE

★★★

“a lengthy monologue telling an intriguing and moving story”

“Moffie” is a one-man play about a closeted conscript in the South African Defence Force during apartheid. The title is a homophobic slur, referencing the toxic masculinity of the time and brutal treatment of gay soldiers, who were routinely sent to psychiatric facilities where they faced castration, electro-shock therapy and often went missing. The story flashes back and forth from soldier Nicholas van der Swart’s time in the army to memories of his childhood. Reminiscent of Full Metal Jacket, Moffie also veers into tone deafness surrounding apartheid.

Based on the novel by André Carl van der Merwe, and adapted by Philip Rademeyer, the focus of the story remains on the plight of Nicholas. Whilst illuminating to the lived experience of conscripts, one must question the aspect ratio of the piece. Is the experience of being gay, white, and middle class as oppressive as being a black civilian? I would say no. The play does not assert this idea either, however there is only one named black character who is called “Sophie” and was a nanny of the narrator and descriptions of life in apartheid remain fleeting and auxiliary to the central story. The main themes about masculinity and sexuality are compelling and impassioned, but feel oddly balanced given the severity of events taking place outside of the character’s personal crisis. Secondly, Nicholas was not just any conscript. He was sent to “Koevoet” who were notorious for committing numerous atrocities and war crimes. The play does not emphasise the significance of this particular unit. This puts the play in a very strange territory as Nicholas cries about unrequited love and bullying from his officers (which I’m sure was awful) whilst being part of a group that was held responsible under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for committing massacres. Whilst Nicholas does say he doesn’t agree with the government, the play is more concerned with his relationship with his abusive father and the treatment of young men in the army. As a comparison, would an audience be expected to feel sympathy for a gay member of the Einzatzgruppen who had a mean dad?

The story is a fascinating insight into a history often ignored. Nicholas talks the audience through the events of his life clambering over a pile of army hold-all bags (Niall Griffin). Kai Luke Brümmer portrays Nicholas as a sensitive young man thrust into an environment of intimidation and self-loathing, delivering a powerful performance, though with some lines being fluffed and delivered too quickly to register the meaning of the phrase. Conversely, the multitude of domineering cruel men are evoked with a deep thick Afrikaans accent, dripping in menace. Supporting the action are the industrious creaks and groans of helicopters and the hum of the Angola jungle, the sound design is both haunting and striking, evoking setting and emotions with originality and artistic skill (Charl-Johan Lingenfelder). Directed by Greg Karvellas, Brümmer flows over the lines quickly, rarely stopping to pause as he adjusts himself around the central set piece, using minimal blocking, relying more on emotional delivery and characterisation.

Moffie is a lengthy monologue telling an intriguing and moving story, however, given the circumstances and ‘background’, there is a hollowness to its core themes. What would a play about a victim of the Koevoet be about and would those stories get such brilliant production resources and attention? Moffie raises questions about the nature of intersectional oppression, but not in the way it intended. The bio of the show arguable says it all “set against the backdrop of apartheid”. Can apartheid really be a ‘backdrop’ when the subject matter of the south African army?

A GOOD HOUSE

Royal Court

★★★★

“The performances and the dynamics are gripping”

A GOOD HOUSE

Royal Court

Reviewed on 17th January 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Camilla Greenwell

Previously reviewed at this venue:

A GOOD HOUSE

A GOOD HOUSE

A GOOD HOUSE

MOFFIE at Riverside Studios

★★★

“a lengthy monologue telling an intriguing and moving story”

MOFFIE at Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 7th June 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Daniel Rutland Manners

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MOFFIE

MOFFIE