Betrayal in the City

Betrayal in the City is a play by Francis Imbuga. First published in 1976, the play’s powerful indictments of government corruption in post-colonial Africa, the cost to voiceless citizens, and the numbing effects of daily violence make it both an important work of art and an act of extreme courage by its author. There is one complicated question at the heart of the play: what chance do the citizens of a country have if the most powerful people in government are monsters?

Imbuga sets his play in a fictionalized country called Kafira. He purposefully avoids the use of identifying characteristics that would point to specific organizations or politicians. However, while interchangeable characters and locations can be a sign of inadequate thought in amateurish hands, Imbuga writes this way in order to avoid potential acts of retaliation from the government under which he was living at the time.

African identity is complex. If there is such a thing as African culture, it varies widely from country to country. The fact that colonizers always bring elements of their own cultures when subjugating new territories further complicates African identities. This piecemeal conglomeration of traditions young and old has created an environment in which it can be difficult to say whether there is any true distillation of African culture on which Africans could reach consensus.

When the play begins, the characters Nina and Doga are grieving. They recently lost a child, who was killed during an anti-government protest. Other characters find themselves in similar situations: they have been wronged by the powerful and are driven, often in futility, to find solutions. Their striving rarely leads to a reward, or to any satisfaction at all.

Betrayal in the City is ultimately a play about the suffering that results when a country implodes because of the people who are ostensibly in charge of it. There can be no change unless influential people are willing to listen, and then to act. Imbuga’s play shows the bleak, dreadful realities of ordinary people who cannot shout loudly enough to make themselves heard.