Jenny Kandenge’s upcoming thriller play, Sisters’ follows Jeffery (Nashawn Marenga) and Selina (Lahja Haufiku), who share a bond stronger than most siblings, believing that they are indestructible together, until Joy (Monica Iyambo) comes along.
The story unfolds when Jeffery plans a dinner date for Joy, who in turn has a plan with her sister, Alicia (Mikiros //Garoes), to uncover the truth about their younger sister, Amy’s death. The night turns into a cat and mouse game, as Joy tries to get Jeffery to let his guard down while the threat of Selina works to find out the motives behind Joy’s visit. It’s an evening of revenge and deceit, a built up of sibling rivalry as they all work to outsmart each other to find what the other is hiding.
Writer and Director, Kandenge, who won an award for best script in 2017 for her thriller play Ominous, says that her latest offering explores sibling bonds and how far one would go for them.
Kandenge says while keeping a good balance of tension, she has to make sure that the audience won’t be bored and turn their eyes away from the stage.
“I have to say the play scares me a bit. I did not realize it could get so dark and intense. Another thing is to be careful not to push my actors too much, the play does deal with some dark themes and I always have to be aware that actors are fragile they pick up traits of their characters without even realizing at times, so I am working to make sure that they don’t lose themselves completely,” she says.
The inspiration for the script, Kandenge says, came from a discussion she had with someone, adding that the entire premise of the play came from the question of ‘what would you do if you were in a room with someone who killed someone close to you?’
“I developed it from there onward, because I’ve always been intrigued by what pushes people to do horrible things or why they do horrible things. I wanted to take these characters who seem like everyday people and place them in a situation similar to the question I had and see what they would do. Most of my inspiration comes from really dark places but I think these characters are going to be relatable or so I hope. It will definitely be interesting to watch.”
This Director’s Lab production will be on stage for two consecutive days at the National Theatre of Namibia from 1- 2 November 2018 at 19h00. Tickets go for N$80. Students and pensioners pay N$50. Tickets are available at all Computicket outlets.
namibinsider.wordpress.com 