CRONY PLAYERS' WHEN IT RAINS 12.13.23.3PM

Crony Players came out late last year in "WHEN IT RAINS" at Alliance Francaise. They propelled themselves as a highly energized, supersonic team of two families related to a couple believed to be heading off to Canada for work and marital bliss. There’s nothing like that going on. But before the reality of Caleb (Nick Kwach) and Sandra’s (Cindy Hahuha) situation becomes clear, their story unfolds, starting with Caleb’s adrenaline-pumped delight over his fiancée and their impending marriage. She shares their love, but is more of a realist, acutely aware that they both are jobless. Their situation changes dramatically once she finally gets offered a job, which she jumps at. But her new boss is pleased she is single and plans to station her in Canada for four years. Initially, Caleb is thrilled since he thinks they’ll travel together. But then, she makes clear that is not the case. She will go alone, despite his insistence that she goes with him or doesn’t go at all. Her rejection of his pleas is devastating to Caleb as his initial enthusiasm turns quickly into anguish. His devastation gets worse when members of her family arrive, unaware that the two are hardy on speaking terms since she is going alone. Their spokesman, her father (Humphrey Maina) is effusive in his praise of his child and has many stories about family to share. His wife (Esther Kahuha) also gets her turn, but hers is primarily a verbal assault on Caleb for being jobless and not providing well for her daughter. It’s one more abuse of the man who is already down and out due to her daughter’s decision to put her work ahead of him. Now it’s getting late, and the entourage that has come in support her trip to Canada is quick to leave. Then seconds after they go, another family entourage shows up, this one representing Caleb’s side. Headed by another big blowhard, Caleb’s uncle Boya (Victor Nyaata), this group is also shattered at the news that Caleb is not going abroad, especially after his nephew had called his Uncle to say he was going. Moya wanted bus fare from Caleb for the false alarm, but the jobless nephew reminds his uncle he has no means to assist. Those family members also departed. But curiously, Boya leaves his lovely adopted daughter Shantel (Lydia Wabocha) alone with Caleb. His reaction which he mutters under his breathe, “when one door closes, another is bound to open!” One could actually see the cosmic shift in Caleb’s head. The biggest battle of the play is about to begin. It takes place when Sandra suddenly returns, suitcases and all. Caleb had been quick to adapt once he’s known his fiancée had effectively left him for good. He would speculate on how tight would be their relationship after her four years in Canada? So, he picks up on Uncle Moya’s 'gift' to him of his step-daughter. He calls his favorite restaurant and orders two coffees, a bar of dark chocolate and flowers Sandra’s outrage of being so easily forgotten ignited a war we couldn’t see the end of since the delivery man arrived just in time to put their war onto a different plain of argument. For now, she can see that her fiancé is a ladies’ man, the kind that can easily have another candidate for wife or side chick any time he likes. So perhaps she was right in the first place, to prioritize work over wedlock. In any case, Crony came up with a classic case of the complications that arise when a couple gets split due to economic factors. However, in the past, it was always the man who was heading out of town, leaving the woman to cope alone. But in this case, it’s the woman who is off to the States while he is stuck at home. She’s the one who will be expanding her perspective and seeing new prospects for growth and enlightenment. As for the technical features supporting Crony’s show, the lighting and sound were excellent. But it was the set design that I found thoughtfully assembled and tastefully uncluttered. There was a bookcase filled with several shelves of a broad selection of books in the living room where all the action was staged. Even the costuming was well done and often fun, as when Caleb brings Sandra breakfast dressed in a cook’s apron, shorts, and colorful striped socks. The script itself was devised by the cast, all of whom came out strong in 2023.