Mercy Kajuju as Angie with Mary Wairimu Mureithi as the Waitress in Zeddy Players’ comedy, She-World, on December 9, 2023 at Professional Centre, Nairobi. PHOTO | POOL
The She World that Zeddy Players presented last weekend at the Professional Centre in Nairobi did not portray a very flattering image of women. But it’s all staged with dark humour and sarcastic wit. It presents women doing and being a variety of things. Unfortunately, they are all quite self-serving. The best illustration of that trend takes shape as Angie (Mercy Kajuju), one of two sisters who will win Sh50 million from the lottery. She has a selfie stream that she runs on TikTok.
Depending on how many likes she receives in a week, she makes a little cash.
But then her big sister, Zeddy (Zainabu Zeddy also directs), is first to bet on the chance that she’ll win the lottery. It’s a long shot, but since she’s otherwise quite idle, she figures gambling is the best ‘work’ she can do.
There’s nothing pious, pure, or particularly selfless in her approach to everyday life.
Then there’s their old Mum (June Muli) who comes (in a wheelchair) to visit her two daughters who by now are staying together. This mama is a complainer who feels she’s not getting enough attention from them.
She is also a doper who loves her ‘medical marijuana’ and needs their help in obtaining it. But as they disapprove of her habit and grow weary of her harangues, they walk out on her and head for Mombasa with their new wealth.
The fact that they can be so callous and disinterested in their own mother’s basic desire is not just selfish. It is downright cruel. It’s no wonder that soon after they reach the Coast, they get word their mother is dead. But even such sad news doesn’t phase them. They both seem to be drunk on their new money.
Their neighbour during pre-lottery winning times, Immaculata (Millicent Shibia) comes to see them after they have moved to an up-market estate. She wants a job as their house help. But she also needs a place to stay. Angie has little compassion but agrees she can stay one night and also help tidy up a bit, but that is all.
Nonetheless, she’s tenacious and sticks around. She hints about a salary, but the sisters are stingy. Angie says the best they can do is allow them to live in their place, nothing more. Immaculata is intent on sticking around which is indicative of a willful woman. She’s a woman you might admire for sticking to her guns, but again, she’s not fighting for a righteous cause.
Nonetheless, she does know how to fight for her own survival. The other two examples of women in the play are crooks, one in the name of piety and Jesus Christ, the other a notorious and dangerous con woman. The preacher (Mirian Osimbo) is the one who presides over the sister’s mother’s funeral. She has a slick game going on.
She’s as crafty and seemingly credible as any so-called Christian preacher- man that we have seen on Sunday morning TV. The sisters had never met her before they’d agreed she would preside over the funeral. (The girls don’t go to church.) Following them back to their flat, the pastor asks them to give a tithe. They are alarmed and amused.
So, the pastor, having seen alcohol on the table, goes exploring, and finds the wine and spirits corner of the living room. Packing up three or four bottles of expensive booze, she heads out the door, having got sufficient bounty from her home visit as a church elder. But it’s the last crook that offers the purest illustration of just how calculating, cruel, and compassionless a woman can be.
This gangster woman (Osimbo) had called Zeddy and asked that they meet. For some reason, Zeddy is keen to go and meet her. Angie disapproves and advises her not to go but Zeddy doesn’t listen.
Instead, she is so foolish that, just as she always does, she keeps her bag of big money with her at all times, even when meeting the con woman.
Naturally, the game is over in a flash. It doesn’t take long for the crook to get Zeddy drunk and drugged. But it’s not only her money that gets lost. So go her shoes, pants, dress, jewellery and wig. Left with only her underwear, she is finally humbled and Angie is amused. Zeddy players seem to know the public loves villainy more than virtue. It invariably invites more entertaining storylines. Nonetheless, they might expand their She World repertoire to include at least one good woman.
