Houseboy can refer to any one of two dramatic works, both based on the novel Une vie de boy by the Cameroonian diplomat and author Ferdinand Oyono (1929-)

The original novel

The plays discussed are both based on Une vie de boy, a French novel in the form of a diary written by Ferdinand Oyono (1929-), first published in 1956 by René Julliard and translated into English in as Houseboy by John Reed in 1966 for Heinemann's African Writers Series 29.

Stage adaptations

There have been two English stage adaptations of the novel known in South Africa

Houseboy by Michael Etherton

The Reed translation of the novel was first dramatised as a one act play by Michael Etherton, who taught drama at the University of Zambia in the 1960s, for performance by his students. The text was published in Five African Plays, edited by Cosmo Pieterse. (African writers series, 114, London: Heinemann.) This later also led to an Arabic version of the play.[]

Houseboy by William Kentridge

Adapted by Kentridge as a full length play of 120 minutes, the staged interpretation of the Cameroonian novel Houseboy uses an ensemble cast comprising the various characters throughout the 1956 novel by Ferdinand Oyono in typical Kentridge fashion, merging music, language, translation and drawing to explore themes of colonialism, trauma, and narrative history.

The production by The Centre for the Less Good Idea opened in 2022 and went on to tour widely. Directed by William Kentridge and assistant director Phala Ookeditse Phala, it featured South African artists Mncedisi Shabangu, Alfred Motlhapi, Nji Alain, Sello Ramolahloane, William Harding, Antony Coleman, Sue Pam-Grant, Buhle Mazibuko and Sibahle Mangena. Music by Micca Manganye and Volley Nchabeleng, with Nhlanhla Mahlangu as chorus director.