A political play inspired by Lari Situation
Narrator – Observes history without flinching
Gichuka Waithera – A man who returns by choice, not necessity
Mungai – A ruler who feeds to rule
Elders of Lari – Wise, tired, cautious
Chorus of Lari People – Fearful, hungry, conflicted
Messenger from Abroad – Speaks of ease and escape
Silence – A presence, not a voice
Truth – Speaks once, and only once
ACT I – The Comfort of Distance
(Soft light. A table set richly. Gichuka Waithera sits alone, eating slowly.)
Narrator: Gichuka Waithera had every reason to remain silent. He was not hungry. He was not beaten by dust. He did not queue for unga or wait for promises. He ate life with a big spoon—far from Lari.
(Silence moves across the stage.)
Messenger from Abroad: Why trouble yourself? Lari is loud, broken, predictable. Here, your plate is full.
Gichuka (quietly): A full plate does not silence a burning conscience.
Narrator: And so the struggle began— not in Lari, but in the heart of a man who could have stayed away.
(Lights dim.)
ACT II – The Choice of Identity
(A barren stage. Cracked ground. The people of Lari sit in small groups.)
Narrator: Like Moses, raised away from pain, Gichuka saw what distance hides. And he chose not safety, but identity.
(Gichuka enters. The people murmur.)
Chorus of Lari People: Why has he come? Is he sent by Mungai? Or has hunger followed him here?
Elder 1: We did not call you.
Elder 2: And we are not suffering the way you imagine.
Gichuka: That is what frightens me most.
Narrator: For some suffering screams. But deeper suffering eats quietly.
ACT III – Pharaoh among them
(Trumpet sound. Mungai enters, well dressed, smiling.)
Mungai: My people! Why all this tension? Have I not fed you?
(Servants bring sacks: unga, mboco, mbembe, rice.)
Mungai (raising his voice): Reke maríe biû kaba mage gwa kûmia! Let them eat—
so they do not count their wounds.
Chorus (hesitant, grateful): At least we eat… At least today we eat…
Narrator: Pharaoh does not need chains when the stomach is loyal.
ACT IV – The Danger of Comfort
(Night. Gichuka speaks to the Elders.)
Gichuka: Do you not see? Food has replaced dignity. Relief has replaced justice.
Elder 1: Hunger is crueler than oppression.
Elder 2: Empty stomachs do not chant freedom.
Gichuka: But full stomachs forget it.
(Silence stands between them.)
Narrator: Bondage is easiest to defend when it is comfortable.
ACT V – The People’s Struggle
(The Chorus argues among itself.)
Voice 1: Mungai feeds us.
Voice 2: But he owns us.
Voice 3: Freedom does not cook supper.
Voice 4: But slavery seasons it.
(Gichuka steps forward.)
Gichuka: You are not animals to be thrown feed. You are a people meant to stand upright.
Chorus (angry, afraid): Will your words fill our stomachs tomorrow?
(Gichuka is silent.)
Narrator: Truth rarely answers hunger immediately. That is why Pharaohs last long.
ACT VI – The Cost of Speaking
(Mungai confronts Gichuka.)
Mungai (smiling): You could have stayed abroad. Why stir dust?
Gichuka: Because silence is also a vote.
Mungai: You will starve with them.
Gichuka: Then at least my hunger will be honest.
(Truth steps forward briefly.)
Truth: A people who choose food over freedom will one day beg for both.
(Truth disappears.)
Final Act – A Question Left Unanswered
(The food sacks remain. The people stand uncertain.)
Narrator: Lari did not lack food. It lacked courage. And courage cannot be distributed in rations.
(Gichuka stands among the people—not above them.)
Gichuka: I did not come to free you. I came to refuse silence. The rest is your choice.
(Lights fade.)
Narrator (final words): Every generation must decide— the pots of meat they can touch, or the freedom they must fight for.
Blackout.
Curtain.
Characters
Narrator – Observes history without flinching
Gichuka Waithera – A man who returns by choice, not necessity
Mungai – A ruler who feeds to rule
Elders of Lari – Wise, tired, cautious
Chorus of Lari People – Fearful, hungry, conflicted
Messenger from Abroad – Speaks of ease and escape
Silence – A presence, not a voice
Truth – Speaks once, and only once
ACT I – The Comfort of Distance
(Soft light. A table set richly. Gichuka Waithera sits alone, eating slowly.)
Narrator: Gichuka Waithera had every reason to remain silent. He was not hungry. He was not beaten by dust. He did not queue for unga or wait for promises. He ate life with a big spoon—far from Lari.
(Silence moves across the stage.)
Messenger from Abroad: Why trouble yourself? Lari is loud, broken, predictable. Here, your plate is full.
Gichuka (quietly): A full plate does not silence a burning conscience.
Narrator: And so the struggle began— not in Lari, but in the heart of a man who could have stayed away.
(Lights dim.)
ACT II – The Choice of Identity
(A barren stage. Cracked ground. The people of Lari sit in small groups.)
Narrator: Like Moses, raised away from pain, Gichuka saw what distance hides. And he chose not safety, but identity.
(Gichuka enters. The people murmur.)
Chorus of Lari People: Why has he come? Is he sent by Mungai? Or has hunger followed him here?
Elder 1: We did not call you.
Elder 2: And we are not suffering the way you imagine.
Gichuka: That is what frightens me most.
Narrator: For some suffering screams. But deeper suffering eats quietly.
ACT III – Pharaoh among them
(Trumpet sound. Mungai enters, well dressed, smiling.)
Mungai: My people! Why all this tension? Have I not fed you?
(Servants bring sacks: unga, mboco, mbembe, rice.)
Mungai (raising his voice): Reke maríe biû kaba mage gwa kûmia! Let them eat—
so they do not count their wounds.
Chorus (hesitant, grateful): At least we eat… At least today we eat…
Narrator: Pharaoh does not need chains when the stomach is loyal.
ACT IV – The Danger of Comfort
(Night. Gichuka speaks to the Elders.)
Gichuka: Do you not see? Food has replaced dignity. Relief has replaced justice.
Elder 1: Hunger is crueler than oppression.
Elder 2: Empty stomachs do not chant freedom.
Gichuka: But full stomachs forget it.
(Silence stands between them.)
Narrator: Bondage is easiest to defend when it is comfortable.
ACT V – The People’s Struggle
(The Chorus argues among itself.)
Voice 1: Mungai feeds us.
Voice 2: But he owns us.
Voice 3: Freedom does not cook supper.
Voice 4: But slavery seasons it.
(Gichuka steps forward.)
Gichuka: You are not animals to be thrown feed. You are a people meant to stand upright.
Chorus (angry, afraid): Will your words fill our stomachs tomorrow?
(Gichuka is silent.)
Narrator: Truth rarely answers hunger immediately. That is why Pharaohs last long.
ACT VI – The Cost of Speaking
(Mungai confronts Gichuka.)
Mungai (smiling): You could have stayed abroad. Why stir dust?
Gichuka: Because silence is also a vote.
Mungai: You will starve with them.
Gichuka: Then at least my hunger will be honest.
(Truth steps forward briefly.)
Truth: A people who choose food over freedom will one day beg for both.
(Truth disappears.)
Final Act – A Question Left Unanswered
(The food sacks remain. The people stand uncertain.)
Narrator: Lari did not lack food. It lacked courage. And courage cannot be distributed in rations.
(Gichuka stands among the people—not above them.)
Gichuka: I did not come to free you. I came to refuse silence. The rest is your choice.
(Lights fade.)
Narrator (final words): Every generation must decide— the pots of meat they can touch, or the freedom they must fight for.
Blackout.
Curtain.
