Phoenix Players lifts actors from theatre stage to stardom

The Kenya film and television industry is growing by leaps and bounds as one saw last weekend when the Kalasha Awards showcased a wide array of award-winning TV series, films and performing artists, some of whom got their start by acting live on stage.

Those who have acted in live productions, whether they performed in the Schools Drama Festival, at Phoenix Players, Heartstrings Kenya or Festival of the Creative Arts (to name just a few of the troupes performing regularly) are often prepared to testify they truly learned more acting techniques on stage than on screen.

This is no time to debate which performance genre is better, more engaging or more capable of conveying heart-felt feelings.

But certainly, wherever an actor can gain the strongest sense of professionalism, including the discipline, dedication and determination to get inside their character’s head, heart and soul, is the best place to begin a career as a performing artist.

For Harry Ebale it was at Phoenix Players that he not only first got bit by the ‘theatre bug’; it was also where he gained that precious sense of professionalism that has served him well ever since.

For it has taken him all the way from the stage (where he has been seen in several Phoenix productions recently) to television (where he’s currently in ‘‘Mwangazi’’ and ‘‘How to Find a Husband’’) to film and then all the way back to the stage where he just finished directing Tom Edward’s play ‘‘Sweet Caroline Sweet’’.

Harry’s not well known as a director (since he is more sought after for his acting skills) except among young people in Eastlands with whom he regularly shares both his passion for theatre and sense of professionalism with them.

But after Phoenix’s production of ‘‘Sweet Caroline Sweet’’, he ought to direct more, especially as he got a new-comer to Phoenix like Evans Muthini to convince me his character felt fully justified in committing an act of domestic violence that I would normally abhor.

But as Kimori King’ori, the despondent middle-aged advocate who’s just gotten passed over for a long awaited promotion, his emotional instability is easily understood.

Encouraged by his next door neighbour, the nosy but maternal Miss M (Faith Nyagah is a grand busybody!), he joins an online dating service, where he quickly gets contacted by the ‘sweet’ Caroline Sweet (Ciku Marburger).

In no time, he’s fallen head over heels for the fun-loving beauty who seems to share his feelings.

But Miss M is suspicious. Miss Sweet has clearly been ‘around’ and apparently could have her pick of handsome, svelte rich men, so what does she see in King’ori?

Or could it be the lonely spinster is fearful of losing her surrogate ‘son’ to a younger woman whose motives for fancying King’ori are not clear.

Miss M’s worst fears are confirmed as we watch Sweet, the smooth operator, con King’ori out of Sh400,000.

Caroline is clearly a seasoned and sophisticated con-woman who’s not only a masterful seductress; she’s also a good actress.

King’ori is like putty in her pretty presence; keen to protect her from her bogus ‘misfortune’—a terrible ‘debt’ left her by a sister who supposedly skipped out on a loan. She’s so cunning she has him begging to hand her his life savings. Then she disappears the next day.

King’ori is shattered when Miss M’s prediction comes true. But the following day, he’s already up and out for revenge.

The clever twist in SCS comes when Caroline gets snagged in King’ori’s trap. She tries to play him one last time. He apparently falls for her ploy, and the suspense is palpable.

One really didn’t want to see this affable misfit tricked again, so when he pulls off his tie and strangles Caroline, one’s almost relieved that he wasn’t made a fool of yet again. That last scene could have been slightly more suspenseful, but actually both were emotionally edgy as they each play-acted a part that hung somewhere between life and death.

In a sense, both were honest in the end. Caroline confirmed she was simply earning a living and he admitted he wanted to smash her head in.

I’m not an advocate for domestic violence but I do feel SCS showed the complexity of a crime that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

SCS closed last Sunday and Friday night David Opondoe directs ‘‘Respectable Funeral’’ at Phoenix. It’s the mum that’s passed on and her three daughters plan to inherit but their mum made other arrangements.

Finally, due to popular demand The ‘‘Good Body’’ is being restaged Friday night at the Karen Country Club. The show’s star-studded cast was also performed last night at the Michael Joseph Centre.