“Say her name!” She demanded, her voice cracking with emotion. The red glow gave a haunted gloom to the stage that seeped into the audience, holding them at the edge of their seats.  

“The games have gone too far; free me of these shackles,” he thundered defiantly, writhing in vain, the chains to the bed chafing his arms and feet. 

“Rachel, say it, say it,” she began screaming at him. “Her name was Rachel, and she was my best friend.”

“I won’t say it. I came here for a good time, not to satisfy your morbid pleasure with the name of a dead girl,” he said. “Now, bring the key to these shackles and let me free,” he began pulling at the chains again. 

The tension was thick, and the anguish from the previous mourning scene was still fresh. 

Rachel, a university student, has been murdered. The prime suspect is a wealthy older man, a mubaba, who financed her lifestyle. Driven by jealousy over another lover, he allegedly ordered her killing, unaware that his romantic rival was his own son.

Originally written by Crispine Ochieng for a school drama festival, Acrimony Unquenched is now brought to life by Basement Till I Die Productions. The gripping stage play explores the thin line between personal freedom and the devastating consequences of femicide.

According to the producer, Noel Ongos, the play responds to the growing crisis of femicide, the killing of women because of their gender.

“By staging this play, we intend to move the audience from silence to awareness, and from awareness to action,” says Noel.  

The production asks difficult questions about agency, relationships and the social forces that continue to fuel femicide.