When society’s love for money grows
Mar 27, 2003
A woman fighting for her rights and an MP struggling to regain a constituency. An old man in pursuit of riches, a young girl searching for love and security, and a rich man looking for land.
Play: Abasajja Tebalaba
Playright: Aloysius Matovu Joy
Director: Andrew Benon Kibuuka
Music: Aloysius Matovu Joy and Emmy Nsubuga
Stage: Charles Ssenkubuge Siasa
Theatre: Pride Theatre
Reviewed by: Norman Katende
A woman fighting for her rights and an MP struggling to regain a constituency. An old man in pursuit of riches, a young girl searching for love and security, and a rich man looking for land. This is what makes Bakayimbira’s new release Abasajja Tebalaba a crowd-puller.
The play’s strength lies within two characters: An old nurse Gladys (Leyla Kalanzi), arguably the greatest upcoming acting talent in Uganda. She owns a large piece of land (full constituency) that she inherited from her father. She is the foundation while Kisakye, a result of a premature delivery after a fight between co-wives, helps complete the story.
Gladys has a habit of marrying men so that they can give her with love and security. Among them, she marries Katurugu (Benon Kibuka) who is wealth-hungry and the only way he will acquire wealth is by selling Glady’s land title.
Glady’s land includes the entire constituency with the ‘ever busy’ Senkatuka (Charles Ssenkubuge) as the area MP and its being sold changes the whole plot.
What follows is a tragicomedy.
“Awaggwa ekku, tewabula kyolonderera,†literally meaning that you cannot even fail to pick small branches where a big tree has fallen. This is the chorus of the play which is recited often to remind mankind of their greed for money.
It is an insight into the socio -economic world where lives are lost because of riches and pleasure.
The play’s strength is that it involves the audience. “It is you to be blamed for all this. You have refused to think of what impact your love for money will have. You do not think of how many people you are punishing just because you have the money and you can get everything you want.â€
The costumes are great and powerful with red and black being the dominant colours. They symbolise blood and darkness.
Ssenkatuka, who keeps changing from suits to sandals and t-shirts-portrays poverty. And Gladys, though a highly trained doctor, wears threadbare headscarves and dresses.
But at other times, the costumes though attractive are unnecessary. An example is when prostitutes come on stage dressed in similar clothes and therefore fail to look like prostitutes.
And when it comes to a romantic scene, the services of Aloysius Matovu Sr. currently in London are greatly missed. The duo, Kisakye and Dennis Katongole failed to light up the stage. It all looked like they had had a quarrel before coming on stage, which was so beautifully set.
A slight change from the village setting to the lakeside, after the interval, shows creativity.
Even in sorrow, the combination of Ssenkatuka, Wycliff Luyombwa and Dr. Gladys makes you laugh especially in the scene when they pretend that they are preachers in the fight to regain the title.
The only problem is that actors like Ssenkubuge (comedian), Kibuka (murderer) and Kalanzi (aunt) have assumed permanent roles, which leaves the audience guessing what they are up to.
The idea of using one stage, makes the play likeable. It illustrates the ill-sentiments among different personalities and sheds light on why men fail to achieve their objectives. And the curtain call song emphasises man’s blindness whenever money comes into the picture, an appropriate description of our society.
Playright: Aloysius Matovu Joy
Director: Andrew Benon Kibuuka
Music: Aloysius Matovu Joy and Emmy Nsubuga
Stage: Charles Ssenkubuge Siasa
Theatre: Pride Theatre
Reviewed by: Norman Katende
A woman fighting for her rights and an MP struggling to regain a constituency. An old man in pursuit of riches, a young girl searching for love and security, and a rich man looking for land. This is what makes Bakayimbira’s new release Abasajja Tebalaba a crowd-puller.
The play’s strength lies within two characters: An old nurse Gladys (Leyla Kalanzi), arguably the greatest upcoming acting talent in Uganda. She owns a large piece of land (full constituency) that she inherited from her father. She is the foundation while Kisakye, a result of a premature delivery after a fight between co-wives, helps complete the story.
Gladys has a habit of marrying men so that they can give her with love and security. Among them, she marries Katurugu (Benon Kibuka) who is wealth-hungry and the only way he will acquire wealth is by selling Glady’s land title.
Glady’s land includes the entire constituency with the ‘ever busy’ Senkatuka (Charles Ssenkubuge) as the area MP and its being sold changes the whole plot.
What follows is a tragicomedy.
“Awaggwa ekku, tewabula kyolonderera,†literally meaning that you cannot even fail to pick small branches where a big tree has fallen. This is the chorus of the play which is recited often to remind mankind of their greed for money.
It is an insight into the socio -economic world where lives are lost because of riches and pleasure.
The play’s strength is that it involves the audience. “It is you to be blamed for all this. You have refused to think of what impact your love for money will have. You do not think of how many people you are punishing just because you have the money and you can get everything you want.â€
The costumes are great and powerful with red and black being the dominant colours. They symbolise blood and darkness.
Ssenkatuka, who keeps changing from suits to sandals and t-shirts-portrays poverty. And Gladys, though a highly trained doctor, wears threadbare headscarves and dresses.
But at other times, the costumes though attractive are unnecessary. An example is when prostitutes come on stage dressed in similar clothes and therefore fail to look like prostitutes.
And when it comes to a romantic scene, the services of Aloysius Matovu Sr. currently in London are greatly missed. The duo, Kisakye and Dennis Katongole failed to light up the stage. It all looked like they had had a quarrel before coming on stage, which was so beautifully set.
A slight change from the village setting to the lakeside, after the interval, shows creativity.
Even in sorrow, the combination of Ssenkatuka, Wycliff Luyombwa and Dr. Gladys makes you laugh especially in the scene when they pretend that they are preachers in the fight to regain the title.
The only problem is that actors like Ssenkubuge (comedian), Kibuka (murderer) and Kalanzi (aunt) have assumed permanent roles, which leaves the audience guessing what they are up to.
The idea of using one stage, makes the play likeable. It illustrates the ill-sentiments among different personalities and sheds light on why men fail to achieve their objectives. And the curtain call song emphasises man’s blindness whenever money comes into the picture, an appropriate description of our society.