Why all actors and producers are trooping back to local theatres to work on plays ~ luo.Com

*The main cast of Dreamgirls- a musical play to be shown at Braeburn Theatre. Photo: Courtesy*

A 15-year-old girl walked into Phoenix Theatre and landed a minor role as a passer-by in the adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. She only had five lines, which she took to with gusto. Then came her big role as Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
After a series of performances and schooling, years later, she became the first Kenyan to win the coveted Oscar for Best Supporting actress. Her quote “your dreams are valid” has inspired thespians who look up to her.
Perhaps she is also the motivation to the government’s move to take a look at arts with a keen eye, citing her as proof that art is never a waste of time.
The Hollywood Kenyan star reinforced her talent at the theatre just as the likes of other local stars; Maureen Koech, Veronica Waceke, Olwenya Maina, Janet Kirina, Melvin Alusa, Abel Mutua, Derrick Waswa, Angela Mwandanda, Juma Anderson, and almost the entire team of Churchill Show.
The Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and the Arts Dr Hassan Wario, the Acting Director for the Arts Department Protus Onyango, and thespians across the theatre troupes: Festival of Creative Arts (FCA), Phoenix Players, Heartstrings Entertainment, and Fanaka Arts met last month to discuss matters on theatre arts.
The ministry wants to introduce an Arts Bill and the meeting was set up to involve the players in this initiative. It is the hope of the thespians that the ministry drafts the Bill that changes the game.
Theatre lovers in the past years thronged Alliance Française to watch plays like Forbidden, Revenge, Trapped, Don’t Let Me Go and Temptations. These adults-only shows have been staged again and again due to public demand. FCA has staged around 65 plays since 2005 where it all started at Kenya National Theatre and now at Alliance Française. Twenty per cent of these pieces are original plays with the recent showing, Betrayal, being re-staged last weekend.
“The biggest problem in Kenya is relationships. Our plays look at the problems in this and the audience have told us that they have learnt a lot through them. We are really about a reflection of the society. We are being realistic and putting the issues out candidly,” says Abuto, the FCA producer.
This is also the slant seen in Cajetan Boy’s All Girls Together, which showed last month at the Phoenix. The theatrical production brings to light the view women have of men in these modern times.
Although the plays are ever sold out, Abuto explains that it has been expensive lately to stage plays and it will be a challenge for those who wish to venture into theatre.
“We used to pay Sh12,000 for a venue per day but it is now Sh60,000. We also have to endure promotional costs and marketing costs that have gone up yet our entrance charges remain the same,” says Abuto.
The entrance fee for most plays are Sh500 except for musicals that go for between Sh1,000 to Sh2,000. Musicals are an ensemble of acting, dancing and singing, all these demanding an extra amount of money to pay the choreographers, music composers and voice coaches. Because of all these, they are hard to come by.
“A musical is hard to put together and I feel that Kenyans do not like the hard work. The musicals audience is there and they mostly attract the elite crowd. They appreciate live music and do not want to come and listen to jokes and go home. They want a piece of art that engages them,” says Ruth Kagiri, who plays Deena Jones in Dreamgirls.
Ruth, a Theatre Arts and Film Technology graduate from Kenyatta University, says the industry has a long way to go in terms of payment of actors and few scripts.