We are shadows of those we encounter in life, an expression that seems to be the undertone of Faiz’s It’s Such a Good Time.
The one-man show made its stop at Alliance Française Mombasa on October 29th during the Wimbi la Sanaa festival. It’s been raining for the better part of the day, and the weather is the kind that threatens to dull an audience’s spirit, but not this one. They wait, eager to see what this young man has brought to their city.
When he first steps onto the stage, no one knows what to expect. There he is: blue baggy trousers, braided strings tied around him, and a woven shirt of many colors that would have made Joseph’s father weep with pride (uhuru wa mwandishi nini nini). But from the first word he speaks, Faiz captures us completely, taking us along on a journey to unravel the strings that have attached themselves to him through lived experience.
We walk with Faiz from the moment he realizes his child is about to be born. We become sober with him as he learns this news. We are confused with him, calculating when the money doesn’t add up. We are in awe of the child who arrives and feels the magnitude of what has just happened.
We journey with him as a young boy, fortunate enough to go to school while his siblings cannot. We swallow the lump in our throats when we understand why, when we witness his father’s abuse. His ability to weave in and out of these timelines and characters is something that should be studied in performance schools.
We’re there laughing with him as he meets the mother of his child, as they contemplate starting a family. We’re there when they flirt and when they argue. We are silent witnesses as Faiz realizes he has been a shadow, as he confronts himself and decides he wants to be a man who stands on his own, not just a shadow of the people in his life.
The whole performance feels like we’ve been given access to a private space, like we should have signed something before being allowed to watch. But the way Faiz holds us and guides us through these scenes is nothing short of magical. From boyish charm to guttural pain, from flirting to confusion to final release – all emotions wash over us in the span of this show. Even in the last minute when he releases us, it feels like we should sit down and process what just happened.
Written by Sanchez Ombasa and Emmanuel Chindia, and directed by Gilbert Lukalia, Faiz’s personal story addresses its themes with the dexterity of someone spinning a web; it is intricate, deliberate, and impossible to look away from. This is the kind of show that demands your full attention. The staging at Alliance Mombasa employs little to no set design, and this minimalism adds to the enchantment as we observe the actor and character telling us their story. The lighting and sound design effectively depict the various moods and scenes, while Faiz’s ability to break the fourth wall and engage with the audience as part of his character’s narrative adds to the narrative he weaves from the show’s first moment.
If you still haven’t watched, It’s such a good time; you’re doing yourself a disservice. On November 8th at KIT Fest, Faiz is back on stage, and you won’t want to miss being part of the audience. Be there to witness a performance that confronts fatherhood, abuse, inherited trauma, and the courage it takes to step out of the shadows we’ve become. It’s raw, it’s cathartic, and it will leave you feeling like you’ve exhaled something you didn’t know you were holding onto.
#TwendeTuWatchFaiz
