Anne’s body is brought back to her village for burial in Faithfool, years after her father chased her away from their home for being a sex worker.
Her father, Israel Mbimba (Robinson Mudavadi), refuses to allow her to be buried on his land because of her past. He doesn’t know that Anne used money earned through sex work to buy the land and build the house where her family now lives.
This is the conflict at the centre of Faithfool, a tragicomedy written by Dr Fred Mbogo, directed by Ken Aswani and produced by Clare Wahome. The play will be staged on September 5 and 6 at the Kenya National Theatre.
It examines the dangerous extremes of religious belief, hypocrisy, blind faith, and how moral judgment can fracture families and communities.
The play starts off with Israel (Robinson Mudavadi), a cattle seller, husband to Mbimbi (Boera Bisieri) and father to Anne. A staunch church believer, he sees the Bible as the authority on right and wrong.
When he discovers that Anne has become a sex worker, he sends her away while she is pregnant. Anne moves to Nairobi, where she raises her son, Song Bariki (Keith Maina), through sex work.
Anne had become involved in prostitution after seeing her father’s struggles to provide for the family through cattle selling. Friends in the village influence her to exchange sexual favours for money. Israel, who regularly condemns women involved in prostitution, is deeply angered when he discovers that his daughter is doing the same.
Despite being rejected by her father, Anne remains secretly in contact with her mother. Mbimbi wants to reconcile with her daughter; however, Israel refuses to discuss the matter.
When a landslide destroys their home, Anne sends money to buy land and build another house. Israel thinks the money came from cattle sales and is unaware of his daughter’s role in securing the family’s new home.
After Anne’s death, her body is brought to the village. Mbimbi wants the burial to take place quickly, fearing Israel’s reaction.
“But when he arrives and learns that Anne is to be buried on the family land, he objects. He does not want a sex worker buried on his land, unaware that Anne is the person who bought it,” Mudavadi says.
Anne’s story is depicted through the other characters and the events around her burial and then is no actor playing the role. Her son, Song Bariki, was raised within religious beliefs and does not judge her mother after discovering how she made a living. Song later marries Mrs Song (Shirleen Kadilo).
Anne’s friend Melissa (Ileene Anyona), who also has a child and was chased away from home, was introduced to sex work by Anne. Melissa is outspoken about the need to stop judging people.
When Anne’s body is taken for burial in the village, Pastor Aska (Faiz Francis Ouma), the head of Song’s church, wants to ensure Anne receives a proper burial after learning about her life. His position puts him in conflict with Israel, and long-buried truths are revealed.
Mudavadi says that Israel’s religious convictions are central to his decisions.
“He doesn’t want to be seen as a bad person in society, so he believes that Anne’s life as a prostitute will affect his image,” he says.
Israel believes he is right and refuses to listen to his wife. Mudavadi describes him as controlling and says that his faith prevents him from confronting the complexity of Anne’s life.
“When the truth about Anne comes out, Israel is left helpless. Deep down he loves Anne, but because he is a religious man, he feels he has to follow that path,” Mudavadi says.
Anne was their only child, while her birth had traumatised Mbimbi, leading the couple to abstain from sex. Israel had hoped that if they had another child, the child would be raised according to his religious beliefs.
To prepare for the role, Mudavadi studied the mannerisms of older men and altered his speech during rehearsals.
“The play revolves around the church, but the church is inside you. It is your faith. People are different. They have different opinions and beliefs, but at the end of the day, we are human,” he says.
The role has not changed his own view of faith, which he says is personal. He says that people should not be judged because their choices differ from those of others.
Dr Mbogo says that Anne’s story grew from questions about morality and the changing standards society uses to determine what is acceptable.
He was affected by conversations around Cosmas Bii’s Kalenjin film Maat Ne Lole, translated as Playing with Fire. The film features a woman who pays her father’s hospital bills using money earned from sharing pictures of her body online.
“That film disturbed me so much because it asked whether the father should agree to leave hospital after knowing how his hospital bills have been paid,” Dr Mbogo says.
That question led him to see the shifting boundaries between what society considers moral and immoral.
“There is a thin line between what is acceptable and what is not, and sometimes some things we engage in now might be deemed immoral by those of a previous generation,” he says.
The questions extend to prostitution and whether it should be viewed solely as a moral issue. The play, he says, is about everyday societal issues that sit uncomfortably unresolved in us.
The title Faithfool, he explains, represents the blind religious following and an insistence on interpreting religious teachings literally. Though Israel is the villain, he is also an anchor in the story.
“He makes us think about religion and the holier-than-thou attitudes, sometimes, of its members. He gives us a reason to imagine: who and what is right? And can what is right change? And at what point can a right be a wrong thing? But the play is not philosophical like that. It is simply a story.”