Critics pan new anti-landlord play promoted by Acorn

There’s a new anti-landlord play touring theatres which is being promoted by tenant campaign group Acorn, but London critics were far from impressed.

The Good Landlord bills itself as a dark comedy about renters spiralling into disaster.

It follows in the footsteps of the Fringe show we highlighted in August called ‘How to kill your landlord‘.

The marketing blurb says the show is about landlordism being out of control and portraying tenants as victims of a system stacked against them.

It has also received public funding from the National Lottery and the Arts Council England.

Renting a cupboard

In the story, Jack’s girlfriend leaves him, he faces eviction and he tries to sublet his cupboard to keep up with rising costs.

What follows, the creators promise, is chaos, corner-cutting and a house apparently on the brink of collapse.

The show is written and performed by working-class renters, with backing from the tenant campaign group Acorn.

Anyone signing up to the union gets half-price tickets to see the show.

Critics don’t hold back

However, when the production hit the Omnibus Theatre in London, reviewers didn’t hold back.

The Reviewshub labelled it an ‘unfunny, political farce’, arguing that the play leans heavily on cliché while offering little that illuminates renting issues.

It described the turning of Jack into a landlord as a metaphor that never quite lands.

It said: “One supposes Jack’s grimy cupboard in The Good Landlord is a metaphor for what the writers see as a rental system that enriches a few while leaving millions of others in substandard, unaffordable, precarious housing.”

The review concluded that the piece ‘struggles mightily to raise more than an occasional forced titter’.

Seriously unfunny play

Everything Theatre reached a similar verdict and suggested the show tries to tackle genuine concerns yet ends up undermining its own message.

It says: “Served an eviction notice from a mould-infested flat? This absurdist piece attempts to deal with the issues but falls flat, to coin a phrase. Alas, a missed opportunity.”

The review noted a string of misfires, from unfunny jokes to a bizarre finale which it saw as wildly inconsistent writing and direction.

The publication added that the cast ‘wallow around in a vacuum’, which meant the intended satire never develops into anything meaningful.

Instead of prompting reflection on ‘rogue’ landlords, the reviewer found the piece scattered and unfocused.

Acorn gets praise

Despite the criticism, one strand of the show drew praise as the Everything Theatre review concluded with a nod to Acorn.

It suggested that the play at least highlighted the work of the tenants’ campaign group.

It said: “One crumb of comfort, however, is of being made aware of an amazing organisation, namely ACORN, that provides support both legally and administratively in the face of landlord abuse, and who act as a wonderful political agit prop voice.”

Should landlords want to catch the play, it’s on this week in Birmingham, Smethwick and Wolverhampton.