★★★

“The energy expended by Samuel and Ward is exhilarating”

The Actors Touring Company revives its production of Dave Harris’s thought-provoking play from Stratford East two years ago with newcomer Clifford Samuel stepping into the role of Tambo alongside Daniel Ward’s original Bones. It’s a strange piece, certainly, with the opening scene revelling in its Beckettian absurdity. Tambo (top hat and tails) and Bones (waist coat and bowler) are minstrels in a fake world of painted scenery and cut-out trees (Set and Costume Designers – Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ).

As the pair’s antics verge closely on clowning, the chemistry between the two actors is immediately evident. But there’s an edge in the comedy which splits this audience; some laughter from the stalls suggests it’s the funniest thing ever, whilst others are hearing the darker overtones. The pair discuss how they can escape their situation; Bones wants to perform cheap tricks for our money, whilst Tambo would like us to understand the history of the black person’s experience.

Moving forward, the pair are now hip-hop stars and the second scene is an extended live performance. The two men bid to out rap each other whilst a DJ at the back mixes the beats. Is it the director himself, Matthew Xia, in his persona of Excalibah behind the mask? Stage smoke and powerful lighting (Ciarán Cunningham) provide the stadium performance atmosphere. The energy expended by Samuel and Ward is exhilarating but for the predominantly white middle-aged audience, it’s also rather bemusing. If there is something to be learnt through the poetry, then we don’t get it.

The futuristic third scene with its Orwellian overtones shakes things up again. The stage is stripped bare and, in a brave piece of writing and direction, our two heroes passively narrate the story of the history of the new world whilst two white robots mime the action. Jaron Lammens and Dru Cripps as X-Bot-1 and X-Bot-2 provide the performance of the night. There’s surely never been a better choreographed and performed scene of robotic movement than this. Disappointingly, a final piece of action important to the ultimate meaning of the play and that should be devastating in its effect misses its punch.

Dave Harris’s play won’t be to everyone’s taste, with the long central hip-hop performance particularly divisive. But there is no questioning the commitment, versatility and brilliance of the performers.

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.

TAMBO & BONES

Royal & Derngate Theatre

★★★

“The energy expended by Samuel and Ward is exhilarating”

TAMBO & BONES

Royal & Derngate Theatre then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 11th March 2025

by Phillip Money

Photography by Jane Hobson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

TAMBO & BONES

TAMBO & BONES

TAMBO & BONES

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