In a well-crafted narrative, satire and humour can be very useful mediums for political and social commentary. It takes a good playwright’s hand, a carefully crafted joke and a sly innuendo to prompt an audience to challenge long-held conceptions about social issues.

 Playwright Charles Mphoka used satire and humour in Kwathu Drama Group’s latest play Pali Chani to explore and comment on the intricacies of marriage. In five scenes spread across 105 minutes, the actors played out their roles to perfection to engage the audience in an ongoing narrative about what marriage ought to be.

From the word-go, Pali Chani grounds itself as a satirical commentary on the sacred institution of marriage and the perils and successes that come with it.

The light-hearted banter between the family, as the parents’ measured observations that the love and affection they share as a couple developed over the year while they reminisce about their love life serve as an implicit warning that the daughter, Maria, should not expect too much from the marriage, rather, should expect it to get better with time.

If the first scene was a perfect foreshadowing of the rocky marriage that would set up the commentary, then the second scene is where the story comes to a head. The fight between the newly-wed couple over ‘kudya matemba daily’ helped in chorusing the characters and how their motivations will drive the story forward.

Maria’s rants about how ‘matemba ali ndi minga’ and ‘amayabwa’ and how she fell in love with someone she thought he would take care of her, shows a spoilt and superficial woman who is clearly struggling with settling into her role as a housewife in a poor household.

Likewise, the husband’s response: ‘Matemba amakuyabwa chifukwa umawamvelera’ shows a man who is obviously unsympathetic to his wife’s needs. And his acknowledgement that he spoiled his wife when they were dating because ‘inali campaign’ was a perfect way to portray that this man is a con-artist.

When you have a superficial spoiled wife and a con-artist for a husband squaring off in a household that is struggling financially, you have perfect fodder to light up the audience with some quirky verbal jousts and slick dialogue and Kwathu Drama Group delivered.

From scene three to five, carefully added context. The scene where the mother defends her child’s decision for walking out of the marriage provided a fitting segway into understanding how Maria developed into the woman that she became.

Overall, it was a beautiful narrative that was well-anchored by the writing and the performances of the cast. The cast showed a remarkable wit in thought and finesse in delivery. Every joke landed and drove the narrative forward, tackling some sensitive issues without offending the audience.

The story-line was a fitting commentary on marriage

It was a perfect synergy of beliefs about what it entails to have a successful marriage; from the unwavering commitment to matrimony from the older generation to the unrealistic expectations of romance, candle-lit dinners of the younger generation.

The father’s rants, ‘mwana sabwelera pakhomo ndipo makolo timasangalala mwana akachoka’ perfectly embodied the pressure women have when they want to leave a marriage that has not lived up to their expectations.

Maria’s fights with her husband perfectly covered the younger generation’s feeling that everything, including a flawed spouse, is replaceable.

There were some differing perspectives thrown in between the major story-line. The exchange between the tough aunt and Maria, where Maria remarked that the aunt looked better than her, was a sublime way to show that women can be financially stable and live comfortable lives outside marriage.

Further along in the exchange, aunt’s remarks that Maria is mocking her because she is not touched also drove home the fact that strong, independent women also need emotional support.

The only flaw with the play was that the character of Maria’s husband did not get enough stage time to develop. He did not change his callous behaviour, rather; he was rewarded for his behaviour with an apology from his wife.

Otherwise, Pali Chani was a perfect way to explore the ideology behind marriage while poking fun at the character’s exaggerated commitments to stereotypes. It was a brilliant way to challenge some misconceptions about marriage.

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