Betrayal in the city

FRANCIS IMBUGA is not only a renowned Kenyan play-wright, but he is also an actor who has performed in many plays both on stage and on television. He was the recipient of the inaugural Kenya National Academy of Sciences Distinguished Professional Award in Play Writing for 1986. Among his other published plays are The Burning of Rags, Game of Silence, The Successor, Man of Kafira and Aminata, all published in the E.A.E.P. Drama Library.

Betrayal in the City was first published in 1976 and in 1977, was Kenya's national entry to the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria. The play is an incisive, thought-provoking examination of the problems of independence and freedom in post-colonial African states where a sizeable number of people feel that their future is either blank or bleak. In the words of Mosese, one of the characters, "It was better while we waited. Now we have nothing to look forward to. We have killed our past and are busy killing our future".

Author : Francis Imbuga