The Marvyn Harrison Podcast

Marvyn Harrison and Samantha Porter sit down with South African playwright and screenwriter Amy Jephta to unpack her acclaimed play "A Good House." The conversation covers gentrification, class mobility, colonial language, the psychological cost of being "the first" in predominantly white spaces, and the tension between political blackness and coloured cultural identity in post-apartheid South Africa. Jephta discusses the personal experiences behind writing "A Good House," her London run's reception versus South Africa's, comedy as a tool for dissecting race, and her two upcoming plays — one set against a Kenyan genocide backdrop, the other a Caribbean period piece about a Black slave owner.Show Notes / Topics Covered:"A Good House" premise: a Black couple navigating a gated community dispute in JohannesburgBuying property in a gentrifying, historically coloured neighbourhoodReconciling capitalism with Black identity and community obligationLondon audience reception vs. South African audience reception"Politically Black, culturally coloured" — navigating identity terminology across contextsComedy and satire as vehicles for examining raceSurvivor's guilt and the psychology of upward mobilityReflections on South African xenophobia and the Zimbabwean embassy queuesUpcoming work: a play on inherited trauma tied to the Kenyan genocide; a Caribbean musical about a Black slave-owning entrepreneurGuest: Amy Jephta — South African playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker. Writer of "A Good House" and "Barakat." and Romantha Botha — Cultural Archivist and Filmaker