Why don’t people throw house parties anymore? We chatted with writer-performer Chakira Alin’s bold one-woman show fuses comedy, dance, and social commentary to explore the housing crisis, gentrification, and class inequality. Set to a killer playlist of Charli XCX, Miley Cyrus, and Cameo, House Party captures the magic of cramped kitchens, sticky floors, and fleeting community, while confronting who can actually afford to host. Drawing from her own experience of homelessness and East London gentrification, Alin offers a politically charged, heartfelt celebration of joy, struggle, and resistance through music and movement.
Grab tickets to the show at Pleasance Courtyard (Attic) from Wednesday 31st July – Monday 25th August 2025 (not 12th, 21st) at 15:20
- What inspired you to create a show about house parties as a way to explore housing inequality and gentrification?
I saw a tweet about how everyone is single because no one has house parties anymore. It got me thinking about the disappearance of house parties and it seemed obviously related to the housing crisis. If people don’t have houses, they can’t have house parties either. I became interested in all of the different ways in which the housing crisis has affected our lives, blending in my own experiences of housing instability and growing up in post-gentrification East London, and went from there.
- How have your personal experiences with homelessness and the housing market shaped Skip’s story?
My living situation was always pretty precarious as a child. We moved a lot, usually not out of choice. We’d start to settle in somewhere then get evicted shortly after. We stayed on sofas, with family, with friends. Some places stayed with you. I never had that forever home that all of my friends seemed to have. I didn’t realise how much my upbringing had affected me until I reached adulthood. Growing up renting means you’re always on unstable ground. And there’s a real psychological impact that it has on you. That feeling that the rug can be pulled out from under you at any moment. There’s a twitch in my eye that I still haven’t managed to shake. And I always felt incredibly ashamed of my childhood, even though it was no fault of my own. I poured all of that into Skip, a fiercely unapologetic character, and reclaimed it. There’s also the added dimension of being a native East Londoner and growing up knowing that you’ll never be able to afford a house where you’re from because gentrification has caused the house prices to skyrocket. All of these factors came together to form the perfect storm of experiences and a story was born.
- Can you talk about the role of music and the playlist in capturing the spirit of the show?
No party is complete without the perfect party playlist so it was only right that the show had one too. The show is actually structured like a playlist. We follow along with Skip as she takes us through her favourite party tracks. Some songs are more specific to my memories whilst others are universal party standards, like Mr Brightside, for example. Party 4 u by Charli xcx is arguably the most important pick. It’s the song that inspired the whole show and it’s the song I come on to at the start of it. I listened to it religiously whilst writing the script. Whenever I felt stuck, I’d go back to that song and feel inspired again. It felt like my little secret. I was pissed when it started trending on TikTok a couple of months ago!
- How do you balance the comedic elements with the urgency of the political message?
It felt effortless, to be honest. Comedy is my natural mode and I had a lot to say politically so the two blended very naturally. Most of my favourite comedy is political in nature. A lot of what is going on in the world is incredibly sad but also incredibly funny. Like gentrification. I was always very careful to make sure I was punching up and not down and I only joked about topics that felt like mine to make fun of. There is some very vulnerable material in the show and jokes are always how I’ve dealt with difficult situations in my life. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. But in this show I do both.
- What role does community and fleeting connection play in the narrative?
Community is a massive theme of the show. House parties are all about communing with one another. They’re a space to connect with friends old and new. Or yes, even meet the love of your life. People have been partying with each other since the dawn of time. Human beings have a natural instinct to gather together and the decimation of house parties is stamping out this innate need. There’s something magical about meeting someone in the tiny kitchen of a friend of a friend’s house, making small talk and knowing you’ll never see each other again. Social media has kind of ruined that. What used to be fleeting connections are continuing past their natural expiration dates because everyone will just follow each other on Instagram now. I think it’s romantic for strangers to remain strangers.