Amy Jephta

2026 Finalist

A Good House

Synopsis: In the quaint suburban community of Stillwater, a mysterious shack springs up from the dust with the inhabitants nowhere to be seen. As speculation abounds, new residents Sihle and Bonolo are recruited by their neighborhood to the face of a campaign to demolish the shack. A biting satire and explosive exploration of race, resentment and community politics, about a couple who discover the limits of good neighbourliness and what is required to fit in.

A Good House was co-commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre with the Fugard Theatre (South Africa) and premiered in January 2025 at the Royal Court in a co-production with the Bristol Old Vic in association with the Market Theatre (Johannesburg). Upcoming Productions: Playhouse Teater (Stockholm); The Market Theatre (Johannesburg); Ensemble Theatre (Sydney); Burgteater (Austria).

Cast Breakdown: 3W/3M

Set/Costume Requirements: A single living room set represents a cookie-cutter suburban home in the gated community of Stillwater and represents two different homes. The design and staging can be as realistic or minimal as required. 

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Bio: Amy Jephta is a South African playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker based in Cape Town and working internationally. She was named one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Top Young South Africans and is a recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award, South Africa’s highest artistic honour.

Her theatre work includes Free Falling Bird (directed by Rob Drummer for the Bush Theatre), This Liquid Earth (directed by Milli Bhatia for the Edinburgh International Festival/Royal Court), All Who Pass (Grahamstown National Arts Festival), and Shoes (directed by Danny Boyle for The Children’s Monologues at Carnegie Hall, starring James McAvoy). Her plays have been staged at Jermyn Street Theatre, Theatre 503, Hightide, Afrovibes, Riksteatern (Sweden), The Fugard Theatre, and festivals worldwide. In January 2025, she returned to the Royal Court for the world premiere of her provocative social satire A Good House, directed by Nancy Medina in association with Bristol Old Vic and the Market Theatre, which received critical acclaim.
As a screenwriter, her debut directorial feature Barakat was selected as South Africa’s 2022 Oscar submission for Best International Feature. Her film Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story was South Africa’s official Golden Globes Best Foreign Film entry. In television, she has served as head writer on crime-drama Catch Me A Killer and written for Amazon Studios, iTV, Fremantle, Netflix, Paramount, and Federation Studios.

A committed mentor, Amy co-founded the African Women Playwrights Network, chaired Women Playwrights International, and serves on the advisory board for CASA, the Canadian-South African Playwriting Award. She is an alumna of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment Impact Lab.