IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH SHOW THE MOOD SWINGS OF WEDLOCK AND WOEFUP DEATH

BY MARGARETTA WA GACHERU (POTED 2.18.25) Sweet and Sour is the name of the bar where much of the Son of Man’s latest production, ‘In Sickness and Health' took place last weekend at Alliance Francaise. It also gives a title to the major mood swings that dominate much of the play. The cause of those mercurial gyrations between the sweet and sour, the bitter and the bliss is the silent killer, cancer. Cancer isn’t just the primary theme of the latest play that Mavin Kibicho wrote, directed, and produced. It is also the major preoccupation of two families who initially have nothing in common other than the bar that members of both families frequent occasionally. It is also the cause of so much grief and emotional turmoil that both families are feeling after each one of them loses a loving parent to the deadly disease. Fortunately, one of the sweetest things in the show is the voice, poise, and seductive performative style of songstress Sharlene (Ivy Gidget). She is one of the three sisters who are mourning the passing of their beloved mother. Yet in her case, she seems least affected by her mom’s demise given that she never took an off from her singing gig, (not even for a day) to grieve with her two sisters. Nonetheless, however impervious to grief that Sharlene seems to be over her family’s loss of their mum, we can’t miss the depth of emotional turmoil felt by the second sister, Nancy (Naomi Wairimu) when Sharlene invites her to come up and sing along that her. Nancy's silent refusal to sing at all seems embittered for reasons we don’t yet know. But it turns out, we later learn that her mum had adored her singing and Sharlene knew it. So Nancy’s refusal to sing was a sort of protest against the psychic ‘powers that be’ which stole her mother’s life. But despite her grief, Nancy agrees to doing an interview with a local journalist, Elphas (Peter Saisi) who is just about to lose his father to cancer. Elphas publishes her family's story as part of a series he is leading on cancer. Unfortunately, he had failed to request permission to use their names in his story. As a consequence, Nancy storms into to the bar, and picks a fight with the journalist, slapping him hard in the heat of her hostility. Then, right after that, he gets the sack from his newspaper which in turn goes on to give Nancy the media equivalent to his job. The play itself is filled with these sorts of twists and turns. It's obvious it was written specifically to rouse awareness to some of the central issues associated with cancer. Mavin Kibicho handled this challenging topic with finesse and flare. For instance, his choice to have sweet live music provided by a cool jazz trio, (just a guitarist, percussionist, and singer) blend in well with the story. What's more, there's symmetry in the ways the two families cope with the crushing loss of their loved one. Yet, we don’t really know why Elphas had stayed away from his rural home for so many years or how he'd been called to come now that their father is dying. He is told by his brother that his mother made the request; but it turns out to be this brother who saw the need for the family to pull together, especially as their mother will take her husband’s passing very badly. Elphas still wasn’t interested in going home until there's another startling turn of events. Nancy arrives at the bar after she got his job and showed remorse for her family pressuring the paper to get him sacked. He's a borderline suicidal case by then, but her tender attention to his mental wounds has a surprising effect on him. If she will accompany him home, he will go. So, they agree and we get a chance to meet his marvelous mama before she gets the news that he's had a relapse and this can only mean one thing. Now comes the excessive weeping and whaling, followed by a depressing funeral scene, after which comes another depressing gravesite scene. Fortunately, the play ended on a happier note, with the wedding of Nancy and Elphas, and the final message that love can heal every psychological wound in the book. Of course, we also get the message that it’s smart to go and get tested. It’s bound to save you from grief in the future. Well done, Son of Man Productions.