Igiza Arts Production of The Homecoming at Kenya Cultural Centre was an emotional affair, filled with tension and high-strung nerves, the kind one can only know in a family that’s filled with disappointments that reverberate through the years, never to be forgotten. Scripted by Obura with input from Igiza’s cast, the story flows from the notion of the family’s first born son Timothy (Harold Omondi) coming home after many years abroad. StayingIgiza Arts Production of The Homecoming at Kenya Cultural Centre was an emotional affair, filled with tension and high-strung nerves, the kind one can only know in a family that’s filled with disappointments that reverberate through the years, never to be forgotten. Scripted by Obura with input from Igiza’s cast, the story flows from the notion of the family’s first born son Timothy (Harold Omondi) coming home after many years abroad. Staying mainly in the US, we soon learn how he’d gotten9 a green card, which allowed him to legally work and live there without the stigma of illegal residency. The story opens with the mom, Mrs Talai (Milkah Wangui) fussing and tidying up over last minute details as she reminisces about her long-lost son. Clearly her favorite child, the one she claims she adored, it’s the family’s house help Harriet (natasha moraa) who stakes her claim that Tim was ‘her boy’ in the sense that she was the one who looked after him in his early years when his parents were elsewhere either working or gallivanting around the town. Either way, everyone has high expectations about Tim’s return, including his brother Thom (Bonaventura Wachira) who suffered as the second born and the one who remained at home, feeling unappreciated and holding a grudge towards his brother. He’s rather like the brother of the prodigal son in the Bible, the one who silently witnesses his brother’s return as he can hardly hide his mixed emotions. Then there is Tiffany (Edna Kariuka), the sole female sibling and the one most easily forgotten. Yet, she has done very well for herself. She must have realized early on that there was no point in pandering to parents whose don’t-care attitude towards their girl child taught her pursue her own way forward. It was Dancun (Jeff Obonyu), the delightful gardener who brings some comic relief to this otherwise high pitched play that often times saw people shouting in tones that were unnecessarily loud. Both Dancun and Harriet bring the light touches to the play about a family falling apart before our eyes. For once Tim finally arrives home, he quickly shatters everyone’s high expectations of him. First, he has brought with him a self-centered African-American woman (Grace Adhiambo) who disgusts everybody except Tim. She reflects some Kenyans perspectives of black women from the US. She is so full of herself that she alienates everyone from the moment she arrives. And the fact that Tim values her enough to bring her home also reflects badly on who Tim has become. But he joins the lament at the news that his father just died before he came. They are sad but Tim explodes with stunning hatred towards his mom who never told him his dad was dying or that he’d finally died. His rage towards her gets ugly as it doesn’t seem to be only about his missing to see his father before he passed. It’s not quite clear what she did that drove him to shouting so ferociously at her. But if what she did was comparable to what he threw back in her face, then whatever it was clearly had a damaging effect on him. To say his view of her is radically different from her perspective of him is an understatement. Mrs Talai is clearly keeping secrets that she’s convinced herself never to tell. Why this is so, we will never know. But she is so nervous about letting her stories leak that she declared she was leaving before we could get to the bottom of it. She was obviously wounded by Tim’s blasting of her, but in fact, there are issues surrounding his demise that are peculiar and problematic. For instance, why was the father cremated when that process of burning bodies is abhorrent to his community. It’s not the way they cope with death. And where did the will go that left his whole estate to the mom and Tim? All that seems quite suspicious. But the mother can’t let her son have the last word. She spits out the central question, where were you when he needed you? Why didn’t you come when he called? She claimed dad even bought a brand new phone thinking his phone must have been bad, so why not get a new one which will pick up his illusory call. In the end, nobody wins that family war, except for mom, whose last words sound true, that The Dad died of a broken heart. mainly in the US, we soon learn how he’d gotten9 a green card, which allowed him to legally work and live there without the stigma of illegal residency. The story opens with the mom, Mrs Talai (Milkah Wangui) fussing and tidying up over last minute details as she reminisces about her long-lost son. Clearly her favorite child, the one she claims she adored, it’s the family’s house help Harriet (natasha moraa) who stakes her claim that Tim was ‘her boy’ in the sense that she was the one who looked after him in his early years when his parents were elsewhere either working or gallivanting around the town. Either way, everyone has high expectations about Tim’s return, including his brother Thom (Bonaventura Wachira) who suffered as the second born and the one who remained at home, feeling unappreciated and holding a grudge towards his brother. He’s rather like the brother of the prodigal son in the Bible, the one who silently witnesses his brother’s return as he can hardly hide his mixed emotions. Then there is Tiffany (Edna Kariuka), the sole female sibling and the one most easily forgotten. Yet, she has done very well for herself. She must have realized early on that there was no point in pandering to parents whose don’t-care attitude towards their girl child taught her pursue her own way forward. It was Dancun (Jeff Obonyu), the delightful gardener who brings some comic relief to this otherwise high pitched play that often times saw people shouting in tones that were unnecessarily loud. Both Dancun and Harriet bring the light touches to the play about a family falling apart before our eyes. For once Tim finally arrives home, he quickly shatters everyone’s high expectations of him. First, he has brought with him a self-centered African-American woman (Grace Adhiambo) who disgusts everybody except Tim. She reflects some Kenyans perspectives of black women from the US. She is so full of herself that she alienates everyone from the moment she arrives. And the fact that Tim values her enough to bring her home also reflects badly on who Tim has become. But he joins the lament at the news that his father just died before he came. They are sad but Tim explodes with stunning hatred towards his mom who never told him his dad was dying or that he’d finally died. His rage towards her gets ugly as it doesn’t seem to be only about his missing to see his father before he passed. It’s not quite clear what she did that drove him to shouting so ferociously at her. But if what she did was comparable to what he threw back in her face, then whatever it was clearly had a damaging effect on him. To say his view of her is radically different from her perspective of him is an understatement. Mrs Talai is clearly keeping secrets that she’s convinced herself never to tell. Why this is so, we will never know. But she is so nervous about letting her stories leak that she declared she was leaving before we could get to the bottom of it. She was obviously wounded by Tim’s blasting of her, but in fact, there are issues surrounding his demise that are peculiar and problematic. For instance, why was the father cremated when that process of burning bodies is abhorrent to his community. It’s not the way they cope with death. And where did the will go that left his whole estate to the mom and Tim? All that seems quite suspicious. But the mother can’t let her son have the last word. She spits out the central question, where were you when he needed you? Why didn’t you come when he called? She claimed dad even bought a brand new phone thinking his phone must have been bad, so why not get a new one which will pick up his illusory call. In the end, nobody wins that family war, except for mom, whose last words sound true, that The Dad died of a broken heart.