It has been a while since I was in the theatre to watch a play. Blame the rat race. Friday, March 31, however, found me at the Kenya National Theatre for 'Bei ya Jioni', a play that ended its run in the main auditorium over that weekend.
From the moment the curtains parted open to when they closed again, it was fast paced, gripping, graphic representation of a society on the throes of change, yet held back by the very same things it seeks to change. The socio-economic and political themes running through the play laying bare our most shameful practices: Corruption, violence, electoral malpractices and a host of other subplots that had me for a moment doubtful that the cast could pull off such a script that seemed to pack too much into one play.
Back to the beginning. Kizzy (played by Ana-Mwende Wambua) and her fiance are planning a wedding. The major stumbling block is the question of selecting a committee for the event. the battle turns hot between Spokesman (Vince Matinde) and Ms McKenzie (Fiona Kaitesi) who both want to chair the committee. Unable to agree, it is put to a vote with the candidates campaigning vigorously.
It is in the campaign for chairperson that the play packs its messages. Spokesman hires a gang to terrorise Ms. Mckenzie's camp, while Ms. McKenzie bribes Inspekta (Munga Maseru), to intimidate the other side. The police (or government) represented by Inspekta is already irredeemably corrupt, having changed their slogan from 'utumishi kwa wote' to 'utumishi kwa wanaoweza kulipa'. On the other hand is Pastor (played by Morris Mucheru), who is more concerned with 'mbegu'.
With the man of the cloth, the referee in this contest, bought by Ms. McKenzie, it is all downhill after that. Both contestants also bribe the bride and groom.
When it all comes down to a vote, Pastor declares Ms. McKenzie the winner at a moment when lights go out (obvious reference to the 2007 elections and the announcement of results away from the public glare and the subsequent hurried swearing in of President Mwai Kibaki). In 2007, this was a moment that set the nation alight, and so does it in this play. Everyone turns against one another and in the end everyone is dead or dying. In the mist of battle, the massacre is brutal. The police only arrive after the fact and the two contestants come together to offer condolences and start a kitty to help the victims, which they will again chair jointly, ring a bell? The Grand Coalition Government comes to mind.
In all this, it is impressive how the writer and director, John 'JJ' Jumbi, incorporates current affairs that are instantly relatable to the audience. Spokesman asking 'sasa mnataka nifanye aje?', the same Spokesman again facing off with Ms McKenzie and accusing her of catwalking while misleading the public. (Make a connection?).
When the play gets going, many would have expected the bride and groom to be the main players. However, the starring roles move to the politicians who are jostling for power and while many a playwright would have created a clear divide of character traits, this one does not. Both are corrupt and underhanded. At some point the audience is not sure who to sympathize with, Spokesman with his 'militia' or Ms. McKenzie who bribed everyone she could think of. This seems like an oversight, where many would expect a clear 'good guy' who assures us that there is good in the midst of all evil. It steers away from a clear demarcation of character traits between the antagonist and protagonist. Even the Pastor is knee deep in murk. But as the play concludes, the satirical approach and a final plea from Kizzy to love one another sets the overall message on an even keel.
The overriding them is that of electoral conduct - quite apt as the General Election draws near - and that of questionable conduct by politicians and other stakeholders that set the whole nation down the wrong path.
At the end, as you walk out of the auditor, you can;'t help but feel that as the political temperatures heat up, tunauzwa kwa bei ya jioni.
An impressive piece of work
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