The House That Will Not Stand, Tricycle Theatre

The House That Will Not Stand is an excellent example of the Tricycle Theatre's ethos: telling unheard stories, primarily to be performed for, about and by a racial minorities. This is the first time a show by award-wining American playwright Marcus Gardley will be performed in the UK. Gardley initially wanted to write poetry, until his professors at Yale suggested that his work read more like plays, and gave him a nudge towards theatre. Although he was initially resistant to the idea, the suggestion paid off as Gardley was recently chosen as one of fifty playwrights to watch by Dramatists Magazine. 
The play follows Beartrice, a free African-American in 1836 New Orleans, who becomes independently wealthy upon her (white) husband's death. There are echoes of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, with a cast dominated by women and an examination of the precariousness and powerlessness of their social situations. 
The complex process of presenting Black history in a way that is both historically accurate and intriguing to a 21st century audience is something Indhu Rabasingham , the director, excels at––you may have seen the excellent Red Velvet , starring Adrian Lester , two years ago. The House That Will Not Stand is a similarly compelling story, which also successfully creates a strong sense of the historical period upon the Tricycle's intimate stage.