By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 21 December 2019)
Everybody
knows the mind can play tricks on you. I swear I saw John Sibi-Okumu’s ‘Kaggia’
twice in 2014. But the ‘Kaggia’ that was staged last weekend at Kenya National
Theatre seemed very different and only distantly related to the one directed by
Nick Njache, starring the late Harry Ebale with Lydia Gitache, Yriime Mwaura
and Bruce Makau.
Much of the script
and structure are similar. There are effectively two casts, one a kind of retrospective
view of Bildad Kaggia and his wife Wambui, the other a present-day team of
researchers preparing to assemble the story of the Mau Mau freedom fighter turned
politician turned aging posho miller.
But the play’s
current director Tim Kin’goo apparently had quite a different interpretation of
the Sibi-Okumu script. Or that is how it felt. The differences were both subtle
and overt. For instance, there was far more music injected into the Unplugged
Footprints production. It came during scene changes and ranged from hip-hop and
spoken word poetry to the 1950s version of Doris Day singing ‘Que sera sera’ (Whatever
will be will be).
It also
could be seen on the KNT stage where Kin’goo created a split set so that both
casts could be on stage simultaneously (with lights shifting our attention back
and forth).
But one of
the biggest differences between the 2014 and 2019 shows was the latter seemed
to create many more opportunities for the two casts to interact. What was also
clearer (in my mind) this time round was that the two researchers, Stacy (Mwajuma
Belle and Justin Miriichi) were seriously committed to creating a screenplay
around Kaggia’s life. It felt like there was more solid debate between the two
who often had differing views of Kaggia and his wife. But then one perspective
would take tangible shape in the form of Kaggia (Martin Kigondu) and Wambui (Lucy
Njoroge) dramatizing the very ideas that were being visualized in mainly Stacy’s
mind.
Previously, I
hadn’t quite grasped that Kaggia’s character was a projected interpretation of either
one of the researcher’s points of view. This might very well have been there in
2014; but if it was, I must applaud the playwright, Sibi-Okumu for injecting
this relativist view of history and historical figures into his script.
No doubt,
Kaggia was and continues to be a controversial character in Kenyan history. For
he was a freedom fighter who was one of the Kapenguria six alongside Jomo
Kenyatta and the rest. But he broke ranks with Kenyatta post-Independence over
the corruption he saw creeping into government early on. Just as salient was he
view that the values and vision for which the Land and Freedom Army had fought were
not being embodied in Kenyatta’s government.
I don’t recall
Kaggia stating in 2014 that he was a socialist as he did in 2019, although it
was implied in his concern over the inequitable land distribution and the way
freedom fighters were sidelined after Independence. I also felt there was a bit
more historical detail in the recent show, one which revealed Kaggia as not
only a one-time member of KPU and later of KANU, but also a man who spent more
time in England after World War 2 than had previously been clear.
All four
cast members were amazing. Most notably, Justin Miriichi had the most challenging
part to play since he portrayed multiple characters, from Kenyatta, Daniel arap
Moi and the British Magistrate who sentenced him at Kapenguria to a torturing
Kenyan home guard, a pleasant and a patronizing white man and finally, his
caretaker who told his daughter Njoki that her dad was dead.
Njoki was
played as both a child and mature woman by Mwajuma, who also took on several
other roles. But it was her Stacy that played a greater part in shaping the outline
of the screenplay. It was also Stacy who sought to ensure Wambui got recognized
as the pillar who helped hold up Kaggia’s life.
In fact, I can’t
recall a more poignant moment in ‘Kaggia’ than when Lucy Njoroge gave a
monologue about what it meant to be a woman in Wambui’s day. Her selfless,
unquestioning devotion to her man was touching despite the fact that her view
of womanhood might well be contested in this day and age.
Ultimately,
it was Martin Kigondu whose portrait of Kaggia stole the show. He embodied the
spirit of this wise yet enigmatic man to the max. Kigondu’s return to acting is
long overdue as his Kaggia clearly confirmed.
For those
who may have missed Kaggia this time, Kin’goo promised he’ll bring it back
early next year.
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