Seatavern

What makes a ‘good neighbourhood’ good? What makes a ‘bad neighbourhood’ bad? The kind of people who live there? The kind of houses they live in? Evergreen grass or the ever-dark streets?

Commissioned by the Baxter Theatre to creatively investigate the battle for affordable housing in financial, commercial and residential areas, Fleur du Cap and Standard Bank Ovation award-winning playwright-director, Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni’s latest play, Neighbourhood premiers at the Baxter Studio from 2 August to 24 August.

Set in the fictional neighbourhoods of Lindela, an informal settlement and Everwood, an upper-middle-class area, Neighbourhood sees the idealistic ecosystem made up of Everwood being served by Lindela community members, who travel to and from Everwood to access job opportunities and quality education, get disrupted when, after multiple cries for affordable housing within Everwood, Lindela residents decide to take matters into their own hands and move into Everwood to become neighbours to those they serve.

Written using her signature process of stitching together a fictional narrative from various non-fictional sources, Mashifane wa Noni embarked on a months-long research phase that saw her pulling inspiration from traditional media, and social media, conducting interviews and receiving submissions from everyday South African citizens from all walks of life including those, due to various circumstances, who have lost their homes, have lost their meaning of home and are trying to pick up the pieces to build new ones.