THEATRE REVIEW: When garbage turned to gold

Takataka, one word in Swahili, stands for garbage. But taka taka, two words, takes on a totally different meaning. It’s ‘I want, I want’.

Millaz’s Players’ production of ‘Taka taka’ which was staged this past weekend at Kenya Cultural Centre, made clever use of this linguistic twist. It also got to the essence of the script that Howard Lumumba wrote. Yet Lumumba himself says he didn’t do it alone.

“We developed the story together and then I was given the job of developing the dialogue. I directed as well,” he told the audience who attended the show on Sunday afternoon.

Lumumba clearly rose to the occasion. Millaz’s full-house fan-base loved the play about a corrupt politician named Mataka (Andrew Esirom) who receives a sack of so-called ‘dirty laundry’ (possibly dirty money?) which has come to him inside a large plastic garbage bag.

The sack goes missing after being found by a mentally challenged man named Sam (Brian Irungu) who’s been sent by his sister to collect it. But he is not fit to handle such a large task in his fearful frame of mind.

Nonetheless, Sam finds the sack that his sister wants, but then gets stuck in Mataka’s kitchen once everybody wakes up.

From then on, the story gets frenetic since almost everyone that shows up wants something from the sack.

The most threatening one is Clifford (Ken Aswani) who gave the laundry bag to Mataka in the first place.

As it turns out, Clifford seems to have Mafia-styled connections which put Mataka on edge once the bag disappears.

Apparently, it is the house help Clementine (Terry Munyeria) who disposed of the bag. But that is one of the many confusions that bring levity to the play.  

In fact, it is Sam who found it, then stashed it in his backpack, and finally had to hide, first in the fridge, then in the oven, and finally in a cupboard.

Sam, in his dementia, lends a marvelous feeling of suspense to the play. We never quite learn who he is or what he’s after. But his paranoia keeps him stranded in Mataka’s house.

Mataka, like Sam, is also gripped with fears, only his are related to Cliff and the missing bag.

Once it’s decided that Clementine must be the one who disposed of the sack, the whole family makes a run to follow the garbage truck that supposedly holds the precious garbage bag.

The content of the sack is never explicitly revealed. But the two garbage collectors who claim they found the bag come home alongside the family. They’re bluffing, but negotiations begin nonetheless.

One collector, Machingli (Robinson Mudavadi) wants to squeeze Mataka for all he’s worth, while his partner, Mathao (Ted Munene) only wants a chance to get close to Mataka’s ‘Baby Girl’, Leila (Saum Kombo).

Others with desires associated with the sack are Sam’s sister Samantha (Shirleen Ishenyi) who, towards the end of the play, finally shows herself since she has lost contact with Sam and wants to bring him home safely.

 She also claims she wants what is hers, which is left unidentified. One can guess that she and Sam are Mataka’s kids by another ‘wife’. But before we can find out, Clifford returns.

He’s come for the sack, asking Mataka for the last time. Fortunately, a ‘reality TV’ producer (Shirleen Kadilo) who inexplicably arrives at Mataka’s and Mama Leila’s (Boera Bisieri) kitchen with her photographer (Mike Ndeda) unannounced distracts him.

But once Cliff realizes the bag is gone for good, he knows that he too is finished since his Mafia pals are now gunning for him. That’s what leads Cliff to his unthinkable end.

Observers have questioned the play’s ending, asking why Cliff had to finish off everyone, including himself.

Was it to reflect on the futility of wanting material things since nobody got what they wanted, apart from the two survivors of Cliff’s murderous deed?

The play’s ending left many unanswered questions, like what point was there in the garbage guys being the ones to find the stash? Mathao doesn’t want whatever wealth is stashed in the sack anyway.

He just wanted to write poetry. And Machinyli is a would-be swindler who would have taken Mataka for all he could when he had the chance.

So was there a message to Taka Taka? Could it be with Mathao, the poet whose poetry, (as a symbol of Art generally) will survive when everything else turns to dust, or rather, to garbage? Maybe that’s the point.