HALL OF FAME'S ENERGY ABOUNDS IN ‘THE 5TH’ THE PLAY

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (September 12,2022)

University students had a field day of fun last weekend when they, as the Hall of Fame Entertainment, not only staged ‘The 5^th, an emotive, melodramatic production by Martin Odongo who also directed the play.

They couldn’t resist additionally including everything in their showcase from spoken word poetry and Lingala rumba dancers to a self-identified ‘cowgirl’ folk singer with a lovely voice and gigantic guitar.

They also incorporated a lot of choral and solo songs, including Bob Marley’s classic, ‘No woman no cry’ which fit in well in the first scene. That’s when we learn about the tragic accident of the First Lady Martha (Nyambura Mwangi) who apparently has been paralyzed for life.

In the opening moments of the play, we learn her daughter Gabriela (Charity Wacheke) isn’t certain as to whether her mother’s fall was accidental or if she’d been pushed by her dad, who’s also Head of State, President Bronix McCarthy (Jackson). When we meet Gabriela, this girl is seriously angry, full of vitriol and outrage.

Initially, it’s hard to fathom why this girl should be so shrill and melodramatic. Of course, there’s the issue of the incessant ‘5^th’, her father’s VPA, (virtual personal assistant), which drives her crazy.  But as the story unfolds, we find that Gabriela’s poor brother Bahati (Blaise Rukungu) has also been mistreated by the dad. That, of course, is her interpretation of the scene. Her brother (who we eventually learn might actually be her half-brother) has cancer, the kind that’s supposedly best treated in India. But Dad isn’t keen on sending him there and we don’t know why.

In the 5^th, we’re looking at President Bronix on election day when he is not doing well at the polls. So one might forgive him for not having much time for the family. He’s trying to figure out how to salvage the situation and expand voter turnout. But he looks destined to fail, despite having had a successful presidency up until recent times.

On the surface of things, it certainly looks like Dad, being a politician, is solely preoccupied with his political future. Gabriela looks correct in charging this man with neglect of his family and prioritizing politics over them. But the reality is not so clearcut.

In fact, the play itself is not clearcut. For one moment, we see mom being a cripple and a tragedy that gets serenaded by one lovely lady who’s a member of the chorus who sings in sympathy for the mom. But the next minute, we find mom on her feet in a quarrel with her husband, the President.

Okay, this is called ‘flashback’ but not everyone will understand this sudden turn of events. It’s meant to give us insight into the ‘real story’. But equally, it’s also mystifying.

There’s a Media Man in ‘The 5^th’ named Tobius () who comes out of the upstairs bedroom into the story and apparently gives us a clue as to what’s happening. But he’s quite extraneous, unless he’s somehow suggesting we’re watching Reality TV, rather like the Kardashians who mesmerized millions and made the family international celebrities.

As it turns out, the president’s story is a good juicy scandal. The First Lady hadn’t been straight with her man. She had a child with his arch political rival (Lusichi Victor), the one who’s running against him on this critical ballot. The baby boy was born years ago and turns out to be Gabriela’s brother, Bahati.

What also hadn’t been clear is that the President had known for sometime that the boy wasn’t his blood and that he’d been hoodwinked by his wife. When he found out, we aren’t told. But this apparently explains why he doesn’t feel obligated to fork out funds for the boy’s chemotherapy overseas.

It's a challenge to recognize the Gabriela who we meet during the flashback. She’s frivolous and fun-loving, flirtatious and even disappears into a second-floor bedroom with her boyfriend Denno (Joseph Mukunga), her father’s PA who apparently got replaced by the 5^th.

But the story ends with our not quite knowing what day we are on. The present is where the play began. It was the day of the election. But in the flashback, Bronix blames his wife for aligning her interests with his rival. So perhaps Gabriela was right in the first place. Maybe Martha’s accident wasn’t an accident at all.

Hall of Fame deserves high marks for a fabulous set design and lots of emerging talents who we welcome to our vibrant Nairobi theatre scene.