Several things have happened since Mgonjwa Mwitu was last staged at Alliance Française in a series of sold-out shows last year. For one, the show has been moved to the Kenya National Theatre to deal with the huge audience numbers that precede it.
Sadly Bilal Wanjau, one of the main acts during the last play, lost his life last year. He played Adani, a character that seemed primary to his nature. He was witty, jocular and had a personality esteemed to be larger than many a stage that he graced.
Mgonjwa Mwitu revolves around Adani who is a hypochondriac that gets taken advantage of by fake doctors. Adani who lost his wife, marries Belinda, a young, uppity urban girl who is involved in an illicit tryst with his lawyer. The two attempt to fleece him of his wealth. Belinda cares very little about Adani or his children.
Tonetta, who is played by Wakio Mzenge, is the house-help to the Adani household before he even lost his fist wife. She has raised his children and understands them better than even the man himself and his new wife.
From left: Mgonjwa Mwitu casts Dominic Mutemi, Ben Tekee and Elvis Kiarie during rehearsals at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on March 11, 2026.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
She has his best interests at heart and at an eyeglance, one would say that she loves her employer more than his wife does. Her role in the play is caring antagonism.
Whereas she seems to oppose her employer at every turn, it is only her that reflects a proper understanding of his entire wellbeing. She is the witty lifeline of the play.
With three more additional cast to the play, the act has evolved through approach and take of various scenes and stages from the last time it was enacted.
“The difference this time is that we have emphasised the element of fake doctors treating patients more because it seems to be quite the rampant issue that goes on around. When we sent out the posters for the play, a lot of people reached out telling us of their experiences with fake doctors in their lives,” says Stuart Nash, the Mgonjwa Mwitu director.
Stuart says Mgonjwa Mwitu is by far the most requested play in whole series of works he has directed that are adaptations of the French playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin more famously known as Moliere’s works.
“It is one of the shows in which we are always asked when we are doing our reruns, which is why we chose it this time.”
For Benson Ojuwa, popularly known as “Ben Teke” who plays as Adani, he esteems his part as an act of honor. In playing Adani, Ben Teke is cognisant of taking up the role of someone he had considered as a giant in the industry and a mentor, the late Bilal Wanjau. His role in the play, he says, is not to fill his mentor’s shoes but more or less to honour and remember the man he considered a friend.
Mgonjwa Mwitu casts Dominic Mutemi (left), Wakio Mzenge and Ted Munene during rehearsals at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on March 11, 2026.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
“Bilal was my director when I was starting out and doing set book plays. He shaped my journey in this craft. When I got the call that they wanted someone to replace him in the role, I was hesitant because it was heavy for me to process but then again I felt that the best way to honour Bilal and the work he did with us was to play his part,” he says.
For Wakio, playing the role for the second time with different characters comes with its pressure but also with its adventure.
“The beautiful thing about performance is action reaction, when you are interacting with a different set of cast, they give you a different energy which requires you to be willing to adopt to what is being shared with you.”
The play will be staged at the Kenya National Theatre 6th to 29th March.
“The reason I took up the role was to just say thank you to the Late Bilal Wanjau for mentoring me in the art space. He taught me how to be humble, how to remain true to the craft and how to be respectful to theatre and discipline. He was strict in the manner in which he carried himself in the roles he played, it is only now that we have become directors that we see the full picture of the values he had been trying to instill in us for years.”
Wakio Mzenge who plays Tonetta, Adani’s house-help describes her as a character that which has seen time in that household.
From left: Mgonjwa Mwitu casts Ben Tekee, Ntinyari Karani, Elvis Kiarie and Ted Munene during rehearsals at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on March 11, 2026.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
“Tonetta is an elevated house-help, and she is self-elevated because of the years she has served in that household. She knows everything and anything about her employer. People have come and gone while she is there and so she pretty much knows her way around everybody’s business.”, she says.
What I am finding about these rehearsals is that Tonetta is finding traits in herself that she didn’t have in the first play and they are coming up from the way Tonetta is interacting with the new cast who demand a different kind of response and a different kind of relationship and that makes Tonetta a little different from what she used to be. This is beautiful because it allows us to be more creative, adaptable and to explore new expressions as thespians”, she says.
