Almost everyone who turned up at the Braeburn Theatre for the opening night of the play Irregardless through the closing night on 24 July Sunday left asking themselves several questions. When Kenyan politicians tell you, tuko pamoja (we are one), do they mean together among themselves – the wealthy, wheeler-dealing ruling class – or the helpless citizens? Produced by Chatterbox Entertainment and directed by John Jumbi (Wembe Squad), Irregardless is a socio-political satirical stage play that lampoons the current social and political situation in Kenya.
The play is a collection of several mini-skits that have been packaged to deeply analyse the shenanigans presently happening in Kenya as the country is preparing for the general elections. The main themes highlighted in Irregardless include drug peddling and drug lordship in church, state capture, rotting healthcare, and money laundering. The main take-home message at the end of the play is: what is freedom, and who is freedom for? A regular Kenyan has the freedom to become a DJ and entertain people at any club in any part of Kenya. At the same time, a politician has the freedom to shoot this DJ and walk freely. A hungry Kenyan can attempt to steal their neighbour’s chicken and if caught, will serve a life sentence at a Kenyan maximum prison. On the other hand, a cabinet secretary in Kenya is free to swindle the government of more than one billion Kenya shillings meant to fight disease pandemics and senior government officials will shake his hand for having the courage the steal that kind of money. What is Freedom?
The visual and technical elements in the play are largely influenced by minimalist ideology. For instance, there is no set design. However, the plot still progresses, Irregardless. When it comes to scene transitions, the actors are the ones doing the job, entering the stage with their handy props to create the environments for their characters, be it a church scene, matatu scene, hospital scene, prison cells, and the streets of Nairobi. The creativity of the cast and the director is commendable. The versatility in acting is worth a nod, especially for the multiple characters portrayed by Kigondu Martin, Esther Kazungu and Kibue Tracy.
The lighting design is subtle and very apt. Ryan, the lighting designer tells us later that he had fun controlling the lights from his desk, and the audience could witness this as the scene transitions were largely achieved through shifting lights from one character to the other. Costume design for the play Irregardless is also appropriate. The costume designer applied the principle of contrast in terms of clothing patterns, and aesthetics to achieve the theme of social class. For instance, the nurses and patients at the luxurious private hospital are dressed in elegant clothes, while the nurses at the government hospital adorn cheap quality aprons made of patched fabrics.
Irregardless highlights the flaws of our country Kenya, showing that it is upon the citizens to level up and decide who the truthful custodian of their nation is, and also to hold themselves accountable for a working leadership that cares for their welfare. The ending of the play leaves rivets in the heart and you can tell its impact in the audience, evident by the silence in the auditorium.
Good as Irregardless may be, however, what the director Jumbi could have improved on in the delivery of the play is the blocking of movements for all the characters, so that the story elements can be clear, and that aesthetics are achieved without characters crowding at only specific spots and leaving an unbalanced stage. This irregularity of set imbalance is only excusable if it was intentional, but since there was no clear intention, it seems the director was more focused on content delivery than the movements of each character, I mean there is a chance to give us a new dimension in terms of blocking in your next play if you care about the aesthetics, Jumbi.
Freedom is a great ideology, however, its reality is still hard to attain, but the least we can do is to love and care for one another and move together as one people, Irregardless.
