“It is an artist’s show,” says Ian Mbugua when we are seated, waiting for the play to start.
A few minutes before the auditorium was opened, the attendees were outside the Kenya National Theatre grounds catching up.
Thespian and politician Phelix Odiwuor (Jalang’o) and veteran actor Ainea Ojiambo engaged in conversations; actors Jackie Nyaminde, Peter Kawa, Julie Brenda, Matthew Ngugi, and Foi Wambui were also present.
The play’s director, Nice Githinji, was probably backstage at this time. It was a mini gathering of artists on that chilly Wednesday night in this sold-out play, ‘Miss Understood’.
‘Miss Understood’ is a one-woman play that stars Makena Kahuha, who uses her real name as the character. The play addresses mother-daughter conflicts and the differing approaches to life between Gen Z and millennials.
Makena spends her time in her home narrating her experiences with the audience and interacting with her online audience through her TikTok series, ‘How I Met My Mother’. She explores her relationship with her mother, one that is marked by misunderstandings around career, dating, and life.
She silenced the auditorium with her blunt reflections about her relationship with her mother, delivered with humour. She questions her parenting and life choices, stating that her mother’s interferences are a result of her fear that she may make the same mistakes she did and not because she is irresponsible.
“My mother had a child at the same age as me, and I wonder why she couldn’t wait the way I do,” she says.
The character challenges her mother to educate herself on her civic duty, including the Gen Z protests. She counters the perception of Gen Zs as reckless, lost, and lazy.
“We had civil conversations with policemen at the protests. Where did that ever happen in the history of Kenya?” she asks.
As she is critical of her mother, she is more empathetic towards her father and grandfather – the two people she says understand her. The play concludes with the character empathising with her mother and advocating for dialogue between mothers and parents.
The actor’s mother, Esther Kahuha, who was the play’s producer and an actor herself, says that she was humbled to see her daughter on stage telling her story. The play was created after Makena expressed her thoughts about their relationship. “She had told me many times that she wants to create her path, and I still wanted to hold on to my little girl,” she narrates.
Esther told her that she could tell her story, but she was reluctant at first.
“Society draws the line when it comes to speaking about traumas. I urged her to do it because that is what art is all about. I believe in people telling their own stories because somewhere else, someone else is going through the same thing,” she says.
Esther informed the ‘Miss Understood’ playwright, Simiyu Barasa, about Makena wanting to vent through theatre arts. Simiyu would sit down with Makena for two months to capture her essence and themes so that she owns her own story. Her extreme bluntness shocked her, and he told Esther that he may not be the right person to script the play.
“I was thinking as a parent and an audience member. I decided to be a tool to structure her story. I didn’t want her only to rant, but to let her have art in it. We selected what to say bluntly and what not to,” he says.
He showed the way Makena’s persona says uncomfortable truths with humour, her introspection, and her perspective towards life. He captured Gen Z’s psyche from the conversations that she had with Makena about her experiences in a world that she doesn’t want to conform to.
The more she got, the more he could see a reflection of the experiences of his mother and sisters. This raw storytelling also generated more interest, and there is a possibility of a re-staging due to public demand. “I have heard members of the audience saying that they need their daughters to come and watch the play. The Gen Z audiences want their mothers to watch it too,” he says.
Ainea Ojiambo shares that he had to attend the show for having worked with Makena since she was nine years old in ‘Makutano Junction’ and ‘Tina’ TV series, and for the real depiction of the conflict between Gen Zs and millennials. Ian Mbugua described Makena’s performance as “pretty good.”
“She certainly connected with her audience. She paced herself well, considering the play was long and 30 minutes could be cut and deliver the message,” says Ian.