Wakio Mzenge reveals her whole-souled self in own production

Wakio Mzenge has been a busy woman these past few weeks and months, creating works that were only unveiled last month at the Goethe-Institut.

This is also where she announced the formation of her new production company, BTM, which is short for Beyond the Mainstream. Her first production was the play messagethat she said BDLife Shortly before the exhibition opened, it was just a ‘small’ duet show, as if to be an incidental feature of the launch of the new company rather than the focus of the evening’s programme.

In reality, message is a wonderfully revealing story of childhood trauma and the ripple effects it can have on the families of those involved, including those left behind trying to make sense of what went wrong.

Wakio admitted BDLife that message Semi-autobiographical. It’s also an incredibly innovative work that she wrote, produced and directed herself. And while she co-starred with Sam Psenjen, several unseen cast members lent their voices to fill out the story.

Marrianne Nungo, Mary Mwakali, and Daniel Orenge all spoke briefly, with one playing the tough judge, one the tough headmaster (and MC), and one the announcer, respectively.

Then he brought in the Liboi wakyo to deliver just the right subtle touch to the emotional vocals. She shared the musical voice of an angel, hands playing a fingering piano and percussion sticks, and occasionally, a West African talking drum.

Wakio Mazengi and Ogombe at the Goethe-Institut on June 15, 2023. Photo | Margarita Gachero

Wakio plays an impressionistic version of herself in this wonderfully experimental play. She started the show by asking her audience to write something down if they had been traumatized in high school. This question and the responses you get open the way for the drama to begin.

That’s when we first meet her as a lowly high school girl whose teacher accuses her of starting a school strike. Meanwhile, her father, also an innocent man (played by Psenjen), has been accused of extorting money and appearing in prison as helpless as she does at school.

The girl tries to stand up for herself, and goes to the headmistress of her school, but is nonetheless blamed and expelled from school for several weeks. Previously a first-grader, her grades steadily decline until she nearly drops out of school altogether.

healing notes

The thing that keeps her from giving up are the mysterious messages she receives, which are full of comfort and parallel advice. It was only after she got out of that school that she learned that the letters were actually from her father who had managed to smuggle them to her via a kind of underground railroad that enabled him to send him his healing notes.

Meanwhile, Psenjen’s story is largely revealed through a mime with the accusing voices of his own sentencing judge in a similar fashion to how the main Wakio falsely accused and sentenced her.

His mimicry is especially powerful as we can almost feel the blows from his fellow inmates taking out their frustrations on this humble man.

Rita aka Wakio was also subjected to some kind of physical torture. She was made to walk on her knees across the school compound, experiencing not only the physical pain but the shame she felt when her classmates watched in horror that this level of corporal punishment was rare.

Afterwards, her grades plummeted and she briefly contemplated suicide. But then the choppy messages started coming in and they managed to regroup and graduate.

Only then does Rita learn of her father’s imprisonment and the charges against him. But she doesn’t care. You must go see him. But this proves to be a more annoying experience. Upon arriving at the prison gate, she sees him in the crowd being pushed and pushed looking helpless and sick.

Before being pulled away as if under the influence of a tsunami, her father sees her and somehow, he struggles to connect with her, even for a brief moment. The play ends with Wakio crying out for her father. And that’s when we wonder, how much of this double story reflects the real life of a father and his child? How far is this autobiography a deeply emotional and deeply revealing play?

Whether it’s a full or partial autobiography, Wakyu chooses to show a side of her that we haven’t seen before. It’s still as captivating as all of its offerings tend to be. But it is also a call for forgiveness, otherwise one is damaged for life. And this Wakio is definitely a woman in her own right.