‘Crony’ makes messy mockery of marriage

Crony Productions got their act together at last. In 'Goods, Lost Twice' they tackle well-worn themes of infidelity, betrayal, and reconciliation. They also defer to patriarchy and the status quo.

But the show is definitely entertaining escapism. That’s because it has got a snappy script, tighter direction, and a cast that has grown to include characters like Bilal Wanjau who will hopefully stick around with Crony for some time.

The company is also smart to stick with the ‘heavy-weights’, the more experienced cast members to carry the key roles. What’s more, the minimalist set works well, enabling set changes to be simple and swift.

The only flaw to Crony shows is that they are only staged for one day. That means their fans are turned away, and the public frustration doesn’t add cultural capital to the Crony crew. So, they had better keep their promise and add more performance days next time.

The other big asset in the Saturday production at Alliance Francaise was the powerful emotions and persuasive passions that went flying across the stage from Cindy Kahuru the first moment she stepped foot on stage.

The girl is furious, and we believe her when she throws everything she can get her hands on at her careless and unfaithful husband-to-be. Or rather ex-hubby-to-be.

He has clearly blown it, but for several minutes, no one but Nick Kwach’s character knows what he has done to enrage her so deeply. He tries to implore her to forgive him and come back to the pre-wedding party since all his relatives have come from rural areas to witness his wedding.

But she is apparently fixed on bailing out on this man. It is understandable once we learn that he had slept with his former girlfriend earlier that day, even as he attended their daughter’s birthday party and learned the same girlfriend is pregnant with their second child.

I would be out of there too if that was my situation. But Nick’s character is clever. When he finds that she has a list of all of his former girlfriends that she plans to put on social media, they fight over who will have a hold on it last.

It’s a bitter battle and in the process, she bangs him up a bit. But it’s sufficient for him to claim damages and demand compensation.

From then on, he takes the offense and begins blaming her for her reckless conduct. Now he is the ferocious one, intent on fighting back and gaining the upper hand. He also wants to save his reputation which she is keen to spoil. And he wants to distract this woman from her plan to leave him, especially in this eleventh hour. Meanwhile, she still wants out.

Thus, comes the big family pow-wow where both of their relatives are represented. Victor Nyaata advocates for Nick’s side of the argument, while Bilal Wanjau is spokesman for Cindy’s side.

Naturally, the debate gets messy, especially as Wanjau announces he wants compensation comparable to the first time they made him pay for his infidelity with the other woman while he was engaged to their daughter.

Nick’s family refuses to back away from wanting their own compensation for the damages Cindy had inflicted on their son. So, since negotiations are going nowhere, they end in disarray.

Ultimately, Nick works his magic and gets his cake and eats it too. Cindy comes back as the loving compliant woman who forgives him for all his infidelities, including the second pregnancy being confirmed on their wedding day.

But it isn’t quite that simple.

Before that can happens, the gates must be opened wide in order to see that there’s been hanky-panky all around. Nick isn’t the only one who’s been messing around. What comes to light is a shocker!

Not only has his fiancee (Cindy) been messing around behind his back. So has his Best Man (Victor) and the Best Man’s wife!

But that’s not the half of it. Cindy’s character has a daughter by some anonymous man, someone who happens to be the Best Man! What’s more, the Best Man’s wife has a child that doesn’t have Victor’s character for a dad. Instead, it's Nick who fathered that one as well.

So, everyone has a cross to bear. But fortunately, since “infidelity” seems to have been normalised in the foursome’s eyes, and since they all have been living for years with kids of mixed blood lines, all’s well that ends well, as if they are one big happy family.