A FAMILY ON FIRE IN ‘DEPUTY PARENT’

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 7.6.23) Deputy Parent, the play scripted, produced, and directed by Martin Odongo and Hall of Fame Entertainment, posed a complicated psychological problem to the first born of an apparently happy family last weekend at Kenya Cultural Centre. The parents, Terry (Loveness Njeri) and Tosh (Peter Oroto) seemed not to detect that they lived in a deeply troubled household. They carried on as if all was well with their three kids despite the blood-cuddling rivalry between the two sisters who were twins. Their conflict and apparent hatred were so deep that they even quibbled about one being a hair’s breath older than the other. It made her somehow superior to her little sister, and thus, it became one of the bases by which they felt divided and hostile towards one another. The two sisters (Shila Nkonge and Shanice Mugambi) had an even more complicated relationship because they were both after the same guy (Joseph Mukunga). What was worse was that they pretended not to know the other was also dating the man. Meanwhile, he had a little trouble being in ‘love’ with both young women. The love triangle was made all the more complex by the fact that the girls’ older brother (Blaise Rukungu), the first born and only son was a therapist, Dr. Smith, whose client was the boyfriend of his sisters. Initially, he wasn’t aware of this complication, else he might have recused himself from taking on the guy’s case. But he didn’t know at first, and thus he took a deep psychological interest in helping the guy figure out what to do with his feelings. His first priority became his patient-doctor’s privilege of confidentiality. That rule of his profession became a major obstacle once he realized who he was dealing with. His sisters didn’t know his identity, nor did they seem to care about their boyfriend’s fitness for falling in love with one or more young women. They each wanted him naturally to themselves and were ready to do battle over their claim to their man’s head and heart. It's all deep drama or should we say melodrama, since that’s what came out at the Sunday production that BDLife attended. The girls were equally icky and mean, but they concealed that aspect of their character from the guy. Their parents were oblivious as well. They were just so pleased with the happy home that they believed quite blindly that all was well when it was not. The main way that the parents maintained their deluded sense was by offloading any family problems onto their first-born son, thus the title of the play, ‘Deputy Parent’. Unfortunately, Dr Smith’s job was already stressful, seeing as a therapist’s first task is to take in all the stress and trauma of his clients. Apparently, he had been successful in the past by retaining a dispassionate distance from his problematic clients. But once he realized his client was double-dealing his own sisters whom he believed he could not warn, he felt deeply conflicted. He also had a rough time knowing what to tell his client since any way he went in his advice could be construed as biased in favor of one or the other. My problem with Deputy Parent is singular. I couldn’t believe it when our Shrink decided he was defeated, and chose to swallow poison he just happened to have handy in his pocket. That was a major cop-out in my book. Sorry, but I feel deeply about individuals taking their own lives, be they on stage or in real life. I am against it, and disagree with writers believing they are offering insight into mental health when they include that avenue of despair. There are other ways of coping which begin by letting go of one’s ego. Personally, I would have advised yoga meditation or prayer or whatever way one could reach out and find someone to share your anguish with. If we go back to the play, I would have preferred the deputy parent go back to Terry and Tosh, and offload the realities of their family scene onto them. The fact that option wasn’t even addressed was unfortunate. The parents should have been kicked out of their bogus ‘bliss’ and back into the real world where their family was on fire. Then there might have been major lessons to learn about families taking care of one another and recognizing the home as the number one institution educating individuals for life.