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Patricia Kihoro hosted her show Life In the Single Lane last night at the Junction Courtyard at the Junction Shopping Mall in Nairobi. Patricia last hosted the show in 2016.

Life In The Single Lane is an interactive storytelling that includes acting and musical performances. It’s an honest storytelling about navigating the perilous world of dating in Kenya as a young woman in Kenya. As women regularly tell us, it’s a literal minefield filled with all sorts of things and broken people. It featured performances by Patricia and her friends that included Noel Nderitu, Bien Baraza, Lisa Oduor Noah, Kendi Nkonge, Ngartia, Junior Nyong’o, Elsaphan Njora, Charity Nyambura, Karimi Rimbui, Tom Olang’o, Joe Were, Jason Runo and Newman Owor.

The show covered various relationship topics. It included situations where you have feelings for someone who doesn’t necessarily want a relationship so you have a casual sexual relationship instead. We all know how that ends. Another one is where you date a married man and the spectacular fall out that follows when he has to go back to his wife. He however has many excuses for having a wife like how he wishes that he had met her before his wife. Another one was the politics of the friend zone, jealousy, insecurity, and fights in relationships.

In the show they covered how slippery artists can be, killing you with big words and in general, being extremely toxic. Another interesting topic was Christian men or just the assumption that you’ll find good men in church. Various women have come out to share what a train-wreck some Christian men are.

The storytelling format was easy and natural and it felt like a conversation between friends. This helped create a rapport with the attendees and audience participation. People felt so included that they cut in during the performance to add onto the show.

It wasn’t all about storytelling. Patricia Kihoro, a singer herself, did covers of various songs that included Mfalme Wa Mapenzi. Other people who sang included Bien Baraza, singing SautiSol’s Friend Zone with Xenia Manasseh making an appearance with her song Niambie. Patricia, who is also a digital influencer, also plugged in brands she worked with. Showmax, especially, was on heavy rotation and also Tusker Cider. They also referenced Kenyan popular culture such as hair pornography, made famous by Makau Mutua with his critic of wigs, and Twa Twa.

The show was amazing and it was nice to talk about such an important topic and mix it with humour so that it’s easy to digest. The acting and the singing was on point and I loved how relatable it was.

The show was seriously let down by the rain with some people being rained on during the show. To their credit, they put up a tent but it wasn’t adequate for the numbers that turned for the show. This meant that some people were rained on and others were forced to use umbrellas to catch the show. Some people just went home disappointed and others took refuge at the nearby ArtCaffe restaurant.

Update

The show’s organizer Patricia Kihoro has acknowledged and apologized on Twitter for the challenges people experienced at the show on Saturday.  Apparently there was a plan to set up a tent that could accommodate 500 people at the venue but the supplier did not deliver. She promised to do better next time.

Pictures from the event

Here are some pictures from the event courtesy of Stills By Marcus.

James Wamathai at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus
Joe Were at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus
Jason Runo at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus
Audience at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus
Audience at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus .
Yafesi Musoke at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus
Veon Ngugi at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus
Ngartia and Patricia Kihoro performing at Life in the Single Lane © Stills By Marcus