WOMEN’S DAY NEARLY REMEMBERED ON STAGE
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (Posted March 7, 2018)
Heartstrings
Entertainment is known for being one of the best comedy theatre groups in
Kenya. The troupe, headed by Sammy Mwangi, is also one of our most consistent
ensembles of character actors around. They’re also specialists in sticking a
slew of clever social comments inside a large loaf of laughter and physical
comedy.
But ‘Snake
in the Grass’, Heartstrings’ most recent production at Alliance Francaise, didn’t
quite measure up to the high standard that we’ve come to expect from Sammy and
company. One suspects it’s because they’re trying to maintain a high-velocity
momentum of performance that hasn’t given them enough time to rest on their
laurels for a moment or two.
No doubt,
Heartstrings is one, if not the most
hard-working theatre company in Kenya currently. But one feels in the case of ‘Snake
in the Grass’, they hadn’t given the script sufficient time to settle into a
smooth storyline that made a whole lot of sense.
I’m inclined
to think the story was about a smart young woman named Bethsaida (Cindy Kahuha)
who’s invited several long-time friends, including Kanyita, a former classmate
(Nick Kwach), Paul, a former workmate (Paul Ogola), a neighbor (Cyprian Osoro)
and a girlfriend (Zeituni Salat) over to her place to celebrate her birthday.
I initially thought
Heartstrings had meant to make a statement about the strength and independence
of the young Kenyan millennial female. It would have been just in time
for all
of us to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th along with
Beth.
But then,
something went wrong. This free-spirited girl, who’d never gotten trapped or
tricked by any guy, either on campus or on the job, has a major mishap with the
stranger, Protus (Victor Nyaata) who arrives at the party unannounced and
uninvited. He’s apparently the neighbor’s nephew, but he spells trouble. He’s
the guy who grabs her after she’s had one too many to drink.
I liked the
way the story began, with Beth fiercely claiming her home territory after this
stranger (call him the ‘snake in the grass’) Protus appears to move in and
claim her space as his own.
The rest of
the show takes the shape of a flashback, revealing how the party gradually got
underway with each guest adding on another high-hearted layer, up until Protus
arrives unexpectedly.
Looking
sheepish and simple, Victor is apparently part of a larger plot to finally
bring our girl ‘down’. This is confirmed during the scene where the guys ask
the girls to leave them alone briefly so they can have a heart-to-heart chat.
That’s when the guys show their true scheming colors and gleefully get filled
in by Protus on the night’s conquest of the birthday girl.
Perhaps ‘Snake
in the Grass’ is meant to be a cautionary tale for women, especially as it
shows how very vulnerable even the smartest woman can be once she lets her
guard down for a moment. Ultimately, all I saw was a tale about the treachery
of men and the naiveté of the woman. I believe Heartstrings can do better than
this.
On a
brighter note, this coming Thursday night at The Alchemist, Maimouna Jallow’s
Positively African company will present ‘A Night of Tales’ featuring the Zamaleo
Storytellers doing ‘Fumo Liyongo’ followed by the stellar Scottish-Kenyan
storyteller Mara Menzies performing three enchanting tales under the umbrella
of ‘The Illusion of Truth’.
Mara and
Maimouna are both beautiful performing artists. But on Thursday, Maimouna (who’s
busy polishing her anthology of Reimagined African Folktales) will produce the
evening’s program while Mara will tell spell-binding stories, one from
Scotland, one from Kenya and one from Nigeria.
Mara, who
grew up at the Coast but is now based in Scotland, has performed in Kenya
before, at Storymoja Festivals. She’s also performed in many other storytelling
festivals, touring everywhere from Scotland, Sri Lanka and Singapore to the
United Arab Emirates, USA, Jamaica, and all over the UK.
It was just
last year that Maimouna and Mara met beyond the internet. It was initially last
July when both performed at the Africa Writes Festival in London, then in
October at Edinburgh’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival and
finally, last November at the Ake Festival in Nigeria.
Mara’s ‘Illusion
of Truth’ tales are perfectly timed to be a precursor to the upcoming World
Storytelling Day on March 20th when the Day’s theme will be ‘Wise
Fools’.
Finally,
Mbeki Mwalimu recently formed her own theatre troupe ‘Back to Basics’. In early
April, they will stage ‘Strangers by Blood’ scripted by Justin MIrichii and
Mbeki.
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