When a shack suddenly appears inside an affluent suburban neighbourhood, panic spreads among residents. Rumours take hold, alliances shift, and assumptions about race, class and belonging begin to unravel.

This is the premise of A Good House, playwright Amy Jephtaâs latest work, which opened at Johannesburgâs Market Theatre on Thursday, 7 August.

Set in the fictional gated community of Stillwater, the play follows Sihle and Bonolo, a black middle-class couple who find themselves recruited by their white neighbours to oppose the mysterious structure. As events unfold, the couple confront questions about assimilation, identity and belonging.

Challenging stigmas

âThe shack symbolises our fraught relationship with land, informal settlements and with who gets to be on land,â Jephta said. âItâs so often associated with being black, with being poor, and with all the stigma that comes with that.â

Jephta said the play draws on her experiences of being âthe first or the onlyâ black person in predominantly white spaces.

âI was often implicitly asked to represent everyone who looked like me,â she said. âThere is no homogeneous black experience, but I was expected to speak for one.â

âThere was a younger version of me who became very good at assimilating,â she said. âI softened my opinions because I didnât want to be seen as too political or become âthe difficult black personâ.â

The play asks how residents react when the shack appears inside their community. âIt becomes foreign. It becomes something to fear,â she said.

Jephta said she hopes audiences will leave questioning how they would respond.

âYou might see yourself as an activist,â she said. âBut when your activism is called into actuality, how far are you willing to go?â

South Africans debating

She said these questions remain relevant as South Africans continue debating migration, land and housing.

âWeâre having so many conversations about who belongs here. Who gets to call themselves South African? Who has the right to claim a piece of land? Who gets to decide who belongs?â Jephta said.

Jephta hopes the play encourages empathy.

âSo much of the conflict in the play comes from people being unable to see the world through someone elseâs eyes,â she said. âIf audiences walk away asking what life feels like for someone else, then weâve achieved something.â

A Good House runs at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 6 to 30 August as part of the theatreâs 50th anniversary programme.

First published by GroundUp.