The very timely topic of gentrification takes center stage in the comedic and poignant play, Good Bones, the latest from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames. The play, starring Susan Kelechi Watson, well-known for her acclaimed role as Beth Pearson on This Is Us, and Mamadou Athie, who recently starred in Hulu’s Kinds of Kindness, offers a nuanced exploration of gentrification, community, and identity.
Good Bones centers on Aisha, portrayed by Watson, and her husband, who renovate a house in Aisha’s old neighborhood, sparking tension over the future of their once-familiar community. At first glance, it might seem like a straightforward story about urban renewal and displacement, but it digs deeper, asking vital questions about how people engage with the neighborhoods they enter. Through the character of Aisha, the play examines what happens when people choose to transform a community rather than understand how they can contribute to it.
For Watson, the return to stage felt like coming home. “Theater is one of my great loves,” she explained. “With acting, for me, theater is the foundation of it. It’s always a thrill to go back. It’s a whole different muscle from film and television.” Watson, who has an extensive resume of film and television credits, also starred in the 2022 production of the Public Theater’s Merry Wives — a unique take of the Shakespeare play with an all-Black cast, set in South Harlem. “There’s nothing like it,” she says of live performances, “every time you perform, the audience is different, the vibe on stage can be different. There’s nothing like doing something, and it only exists in that space at that time for those people.”
With this particular show, Watson, who grew up in New York, was especially drawn to the story and character. “She’s just real. She’s just a real person. So much of her feels close to me,” Watson said. She connected deeply with Aisha’s background and experiences, noting how gentrification — one of the central themes of the play — mirrors her own observations of living in New York. “I’m just now coming to terms with the fact that it’s so different here. A lot of what made it special is no longer here, and that’s a hard thing to grieve. I’ve seen things that felt very steeped in the culture completely change.”
Through Good Bones, audiences are invited to consider the often-overlooked complexities surrounding gentrification. The dialogue between Aisha and her husband, Travis, highlights contrasting perspectives on whether the changes in their neighborhood should be embraced or resisted. “What I like about our play,” Watson noted, “is that it delves into the complication of, what is it to argue over gentrification within the same community. It’s two Black people talking about it. So what does that mean, and what are those two points of views?”
Aisha’s journey reflects the tension between wanting positive change and respecting the lived experiences of those who already call a place home. Watson says, the play asks the question, “How can those two things exist at once, and leaves room for people to be more understanding and compassionate about that.”
The play’s balance of humor and social commentary, a hallmark of Ijames’ work, allows the play to engage with the heavy topic in a way that’s more relatable and accessible yet deeply moving. “When things are very deep, we often look for humor to lighten it up, and James is really good at that,” says Watson. “I love playing comedy, so I find it really fun to find those moments where it’s lighter, where it’s sharp, where it’s witty, where it’s just belly laugh funny, where it’s over the top, where it’s most subtle. There’s so many different types of comedy, and the fact that this play has the tone of that built into it is easy to lean into.”
For Watson, personally, the humor is especially fun for her. “I’m a huge fan of comedy — that’s mostly all I watch. That’s how I grew up. That’s the family I’m in. Everybody’s funny. That is how we dealt with everything — with humor. So to me, sometimes, that’s how you can get people to hear things in a more relaxed way, so that it can penetrate further.”
Good Bones ultimately challenges us to rethink the dynamics of belonging and consider what it means to truly integrate into a community, not as a force of change, but as part of its fabric. It’s a thoughtful, resonant exploration of the complexities of home, identity, and community in a rapidly changing world.
Good Bones is playing at New York’s The Public Theater from September 19 – October 27, 2024.
