IT’S A MYSTERY
WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted October 18, 2017)
‘What happens
in the Night’ is the cryptic title of Martin Kigondu’s latest play, which the
playwright also directed these past two weekends, first in Nanyuki and then
last Saturday at Daystar University’s spacious auditorium.
Why I call the
title cryptic is because you might suppose the author posed a question which
the play is meant to answer. But no! “What happens...” raises more questions
than it answers by the play’s end.
In effect,
what that means is that Martin has written more of a mystery than a mere family
drama about two siblings, Roy (Mourad Sadat) and Ngendo (Chichi Seii) living
with their spouses, Jasmine (Shiviske Shivisi) and Kip (Nick Ndeda), in the
house where brother and sister grew up.
Mourad Sadat and Shiviske Shivisi are husband and wife in What happens in the night.
Initially,
it would seem the play revolves around the siblings’ resentment of their father
(Salim Gitao), a retired politician who they’ve rarely seen since their mother
died.
But Martin
creates multiple layers of meaning as well as several stories that are
intertwined. They gradually unwind as the play unfolds, but even as hidden
truths come to light, one is hardly prepared for the bombshell that’s revealed
towards the drama’s end.
Suffice it
to say, I won’t be a spoiler, especially as Martin’s show is coming back to the
Nairobi stage December 3rd. But I will suggest that even though it’s
not a frothy comedy of the kind that Kenyans tend to love, it’s gripping and it’ll
hold one’s attention from start to end, thanks to an outstanding cast and
stunning script.
Roy and
Ngendo are clearly close, but as the show opens, not even she can shake her
brother, a TV news anchor, out of his doldrums. He’s just been attending a funeral
with his dad who’s talked to Roy at length about his own death and where he
wants to be buried. Roy finds the father’s obsession with death morbid, and for
a moment we do to.
Salim Gitao plays retired politician dad to Roy and Ngendo
But that
morose beginning quickly moves on into other storylines. The two couples seem
to get along well, although Roy is frustrated with his job and Kip is a writer
currently out of work but getting a series of mysterious phone calls that no
one takes much notice of.
Once Roy and
Ngendo’s dad arrives on the scene, the foursome scatters leaving first, the
father and son to have an intimate but difficult chat, after which Ngendo takes
her turn speaking frankly with her dad about subjects she’d left to fester in
her heart for years.
What comes
to light in both conversations is that the children’s resentment is palpable.
He’s been an absentee dad much of their lives. He’s inflicted pain in the
process, but he’s also been pained by local politics. Equally, he understands
why his son has become cynical about both politics and the media. He also
admits to Ngendo how he mistreated their mum.
Nick Ndeda and Chichi Seii don't see eye to eye on the fate of her dad.
But one also
can’t help empathizing with the dad who seems to have softened over the years.
He takes a brief nap before departing without receiving either a hug, kiss or
smile from his two kids.
Before he
goes and while he’s napping, many secrets are revealed—including Jasmine’s past
drug problem, possibly resultant from the miscarriage she had but never told
Roy about. There’s also a suggestion that Ngendo is barren. So there are hidden
bedroom secrets that complicate matters immensely.
Soon after
the Dad departs, the children learn that he’s died mysteriously. Before he’d
left home, he’d told Roy about a premonition that had come true. Now the son
wonders if his dad had also foreseen his death. Certainly, it would explain why
he’d told Roy where he wanted to be buried.
Ngendo is
adamant that her father was murdered, but her passionate plea for an
investigation apparently falls on deaf ears.
The plot
thickens as more hidden secrets come to light. But the foul play involved in
the father’s demise leaves one confounded and inclined to call ‘What happens in
the night’ a delicious cliff-hanger that you need to see. Then you can tell me
if the clues Mr Kigondu tucks into his script roused your suspicions before the
truth came to light.
“What
happens in the Night” is Prevail Art’s fifth production and by far its most
successful. With impeccable timing and a stellar cast, one also feels the
writer gave his actors serious roles which they handled with passion, precision
and a professionalism that suggests Kenyan theatre has actually arrived!
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