FCA’S WRATH OF A WOMAN SCORNED: PERFECTLY ACTING THE RIGHT PLAY USING THE WRONG TITLE

Lovers Secrets: Squeezing the pregnancy away?

On the weekend of 10^th to 11^th March, the Festival of Creative Arts, popularly known as FCA produced Richard Everett’s ‘Happy Event’, which, according to their Facebook posting on March 8^th was, ‘workshopped and adapted’ by them. The work-shopping and adaptation resulted in the play entitled ‘Wrath of a Woman Scorned’, which FCA, in their Facebook posting on March 9^th, sold across as ‘the greatest show in Kenya’. The play was presented at the Kenya National Theatre and cost Kshs. 500/- per person. This review will explore the extent to which FCA were successful or otherwise in their ‘work-shopping/adaptation’ and also the extent to which they managed to actualize, via performance, their version of Everett’s play.

Enter the party animals.

According to Everett’s Internet site, amateur companies regularly perform Happy Event. In Kenya, a host of my friends consider FCA to be a most ‘professional’ troupe. As a neutral, I want to begin by acknowledging that, following my recent interest in Kenya Theatre Companies, it is only FCA that has acknowledged the source of their play, acknowledging the writer and the actual play. They similarly have used electronic fora to present the official synopses of their play. This is encouraging. I would encourage them to do so during the production too…in the Sunday show that I watched, this did not happen.

Semeni 'ng'wee' muone cha mtema kuni

Happy event’s synopsis according to the publishers Samuel French, and as posted in Everett’s site (http://www.richardeverett.co.uk/theatre/happy-event/) goes thus: “Jane Harbottle is expecting the unexpected happy event of the title, but she is nervous about breaking the news to her husband Peter because it could prevent his forthcoming job promotion and posting to Saudi Arabia. Choosing the right moment is crucial so Jane prepares a quiet dinner to prepare the way. But Jane has unwisely confided in her friend Stella who, with her husband Mike, is delighted with the news and determined to celebrate at the first available opportunity. To make matters worse, the Harbottles’ scatterbrain neighbour Polly thinks she too is pregnant and then confuses the issue further by telling Peter that Stella is also having a baby. Meanwhile, Grigore, a Greek business colleague of Peter’s, with little English but plenty of zest, arrives all too willing to celebrate anything and is soon very smitten with Polly. As Grigore gets higher, and Polly dafter, Peter struggles with a sprained ankle and a secret of his own…small wonder that Jane starts throwing the antique dinner service around. Will the comic chaos settle down long enough for the truth to emerge in this delightfully funny and well-constructed comedy of misunderstandings?”

Now that's how you charm your intended: Plate dance!

Watching the play, it does seem to me that the only extent to which FCA overtly adapted the play was to have the character Grigore adopt the Ugandan nationality and pick up the Baganda-influenced enunciation of English, set the play in Kenya and change the destination of the spouses’ visit from Saudi Arabia to England. The rest of the stuff, up to and including character names, remained the same. It seems like a lazy adaptation as there was absolutely no level of localization/adaptation that would have justified the change of the play to ‘Wrath of a Woman. In the advertisement posters, there was a suggestion of ‘Nyeri Woman’ to piggyback on the recent bashing of Nyeri women’s violence against their husbands. Yet, save for Grigore’s enquiry of whether or not Stella was from Nyeri, nothing else showed that this production revolved around the theme of scorn.

Ugandan Ssebo's love for the Kenyan wives of husbands!

It thus brings too the question of workshopping plays. Increasingly, Kenyan Companies are selling their productions as the results of ‘workshop’. This term is totally used out of place. Generally, workshop theatre refers to the development of a play script away from the ‘normal’ way of having a scriptwriter write one. A group of actors come together, define a theme that they consider current, relevant or topical (or just one which they are passionate about) and applying their observations, and feelings and experiences and creativity develop scenarios reflecting the theme. It is a form of play improvisation, a trial and error creative process whose stage-piloting of suggested episodes culminate in a whole scripted or non-scripted play for performance. Workshopping may also be done when a scriptwriter’s play is tested for ‘performability’. Here, actors help a scriptwriter make their play friendlier to actualization on a stage.

Watching the FCA’s play, I do not see it overtly suggesting ‘workshopping’. There is evidence to their credit however, that they tried to adapt or localize the play.

'Wrath of a woman that holds fast to the wrong clues'

So then, was the ‘Wrath of a Woman Scorned’ the perfectly reflective title of the play? Hardly. In my opinion, this was a marketing strategy applied at a time when a particular group of women’s husband battery tendencies have captured the imagination of the country.  In fact, the play suggested more scorn to Peter rather than to John. In fact, if the attempt by Jane to smash the utensils was the one used to justify this title, then it was only just a spectacle within the whole play. I do not begrudge FCA though for trying to keep their fans and a new audience coming and patronizing their productions.

Don't tell my hubby, but I am pregnant...and he thinks you are cute!

If there is any place FCA succeeded tremendously, it was in the acting level. The play of course began poorly, with Jane and Stella rushing through their lines and adapting a twang that made their words fly by our ears. I even thought they were trying to flee from the play. With time though, the two settled and began to deliver their lines in a manner that befits a comedy. I must say that actors ought to understand that a comedy is not just the delivery of a witty line at a given moment. Ii is the stringing and engineering of events and pieces of dialogue in a manner that ends up in a funny episode. Actors therefore need to build up comedy in their performance rather than rely on ‘stand up’ moments.

I tell you man, this drink cures hangovers and 'womanovers'

The director of the play had the benefit of very good actors. Jane worked well to bring out the character of a woman harassed by her secret and blunders, Stella came across well particularly in her love for Peter’s supposed attention to her. Peter moved through well from a harassed worker prone to accidents and also as one taking charge when he felt there was a lie being perpetuated behind his back. Why he was continually trying to tuck in his shirt baffles me though. Polly was not a good actor of sad episodes but was perfect in acting the daft woman whose husband keeps throwing food at.  But the two people who brought comedy, balance and sprite to this play were Grigore and Mike. It seems the two were not only able to act their parts well but also seems to trigger the best from their colleagues. Grigore’s rendition of his part as a party-loving Ugandan was near perfect in terms of culturally differentiating the paly characters. He kept in character throughout. In the end, the fact that all actors were able to bring out their characters to complement each other was a huge plus for FCA. FCA’s actors were comfortable with their set, handled the stage business perfectly and related well with themselves and the props they had. Saving the flying utensils was a huge feat even though it kept the audience on the edge. The only qualm was the director’s decision to have the play take place most of the time behind the sofa, thus block the view of some of the hilarious episodes and seem to offer the actors a ‘safe haven’ from stage fears…a fear that they did not show though.  Having most of the action behind the sofa kind of alienated the comedy from the audience.

VERDICT

The talented and professional FCA could still have taken the audience to heaven.

A controlled, committed performance by FCA. They worked hard to live within the boundaries of comedy and respect for the writer. But FCA should understand that by making the decision to adapt, they opened themselves access to the license to try out things and be bolder in  exploring Production options. Had they used this license more, they could have taken us, the audience, into heaven laughing! They missed the opportunity to take advantage of Everett’s construction of a really hilarious piece of drama and the audience's local experiences. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable to watch performance and the money was well spent.