My husband is pregnant, and it is a laughing matter

How on earth is the husband pregnant? That was the first question I put out to 23-year-old Barack Baraza, the scriptwriter and producer of a new stage play that premiers on Saturday next week at Taifa Hall, Nairobi University.

"It is all about our society that is not well-versed in local family customs," Baraza responded. "It is about the idiosyncrasies of modern society where a married man is rearing children he never fathered or where he ends impregnating his mother-in-law, or his baby mama's mother."

Baraza's convoluted play is egged on by the current generation, Gen Zs and millennials in particular, who hardly conduct enough 'due diligence' before hooking up with a prospective mate.

Take the case where a man is bringing up boys without the mother being present. What happens when one such boy unknowingly dates his own mother because the father never bothered to introduce her to them?

Or what happens when a girl brought up entirely by the mother ends up being married by his own father since the two have never met?

Then, there is that father who dates his son's girlfriend and opens his son to public ridicule. The possibilities of such relationships are endless. The man is usually at the centre of this chaos and that is why he is pregnant with problems, according to Baraza.

"I have been told that the relationship between a father who marries a daughter is so strong but the two, who are not aware that they are related, are reacting to the blood relations between them. The play is addressing such scenarios," says Baraza.

Baraza says there are some young people who have dated for five years only to realise they are related by blood and have become the shame of a whole community.

"How do you go for a whole ruracio only to realise that you and your partner are related by blood? We bring this perspective because Gen Zs do not understand the customs reacting to marriage. We better tell them the truth rather than live a lie. That is why people do not like conducting DNA tests for fear of the results." 

Baraza hopes that the play will help his team gain loyal fans as they prepare the ground for the next show, 'Virgin Mother' and hopefully get more sponsors on board. 

He is also appealing to the government to assist upcoming thespians instead of promoting the already successful content creators.

"Most of the people who administer government funds meant for the creative industry are already biased by giving to those who are already famous and have no time for upcoming artistes. We hope this changes if we are to hone upcoming talents," says Baraza.