The lights cast half a moon on the pleated stage curtain. It is the opening night of The Manic Monologues, a theatre performance, and there is not an empty seat in the 11th-floor auditorium at Western Heights in Parklands, Nairobi.
Audience members don green ribbons to signify the mental health month, October. The national anthem plays, followed by pin-drop silence as the executive producer of the show walks on stage to make an introductory monologue. This is Shalini Bhalla–Lucas’ brainchild and has been in the works since 2020, a show that talks about people’s battles with their mental health.
