SLAY QUEEN STRINGS MEN ALONG LIKE A PUPPETEER

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 8 June 2019)

Talk about a super-schemer who knows how to wrap men around her little finger and you are talking about a slay queen. In the latest Liquid Arts Production, the slay queen’s name is Zuri.

In ‘Deliver me from Zuri’ by the company’s own scriptwriter, Kevin Manda (who also plays the uber-rich engineer Luke who’s putty in Zuri’s hands), men fall for her like flies.

It’s a comedy that borders on being theatre of the absurd since one can’t be sure what all of these men see in Zuri (Fiona Otieno). But then they say ‘love is blind’. Zuri apparently has a magic charm that enables her to get all she asks for from the men who get sucked into her snare.

Luke happily writes her checks for millions without blinking an eye. The petty thief Chapuo (Pethuel Kimawachi) hands her computers and fancy shoes that he’s just swiped her neighbors, and the street-wise rastaman (Stanley Musyimi) Fernand tolerates her inane giggles and gossiping with her roommate Nandi (Irene Mungai) apparently because he anticipates ‘making woopie’ with this queen when the time is right. But that time never comes.

They all take turns popping into Zuri’s flat and somehow, she manages to get all she wants from each of them before booting them out unceremoniously.

A key player in Zuri’s grand scheme is Luke’s gossipy sister Nuru. All Zuri had to do was plant a fake story somewhere that she knew Nuru would hear since it would then get circulated like wildfire.

The fake news that got spread around was that Chapuo was being sought by the police for robbery. There was a big reward for anyone who had information on his whereabouts, even if it turned out he was hiding under Zuri’s bed.

What nobody I knew anticipated was that Zuri even got to the cop. Sorry if I spoil the ending but it’s too critical to ignore. It seems the show is ending with the cop (Tevin Omolo) coming for Chapuo when all three boyfriends are in Zuri’s flat. But Chapuo manages to twist the picture so the blame falls on Zuri. The boyfriends feel vindicated as each one discovers Zuri has cheated them all.

But then the last word belongs to Zuri who’d also gotten the cop to concur with her scheme. She’s now free from the three and ready to look for more.