Indigenous plays take centre stage

The Kenyan theatre scene is seeing a reawakening led by a love for plays in local languages. Leading the charge are Kikuyu and Luo, who play with funny names like Rikia Ume (Finish and Go) by Andu A Mumbi Production.

The plays are driven by humour and thrilling suspense to tell real-life experiences. They are also laced with sexual innuendos and playfulness to the amusement of their audiences.

Rikia Ume playwright and director, Njomo wa Nyathira, says he brainstorms for comical titles that are relatable and catchy to the audience.

“When writing the script, the title and storyline have to be fused. We look for brief and catchy titles. Our audience loves to laugh and to see us talk about sex; innuendos make the plays entertaining. These plays are on demand also for these reasons,” he says.

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Njomo lauds Ngugi wa Thiongó and the late Wahome Mutahi, for opening doors for many theatre companies doing vernacular plays. He believes in working with the young generation to get in touch with the changing times in modern society.

Producer and playwright Tash Mitambo has produced more than 100 plays in eight local dialects: Kikuyu, Luhya, Somali, Meru, Kamba, Kalenjin and Luo.

The Renegade Ventures founder says that people’s attachment to their languages sways them to attend the shows.

“People enjoy their languages. They see it as an opportunity to learn it and speak it,” he says.

Tash recalls when Fanaka Arts was the only theatre company performing Kikuyu plays. Tash began directing for them and agreed to have the minimum of two new actors in every show to keep the theatre art scene vibrant.

After also having worked with Abila Productions in staging Luo plays, Tash says Kikuyu and Luo plays pull more crowds than any other vernacular plays. He is now working with Mwitala Productions to create more Luhya plays.

He says Kikuyu theatre is an industry on its own for its consistency, and wants to elevate other vernacular plays to the same level.

“I want to take a break from Kikuyu productions because it is in a good place already, not only in Nairobi but also in Nyeri and Nakuru. Some vernacular plays take longer to grow audiences, so I want to make sure that they pick up,” he says.

What works for him is to showcase relatable plays; a good example is Hura Mbiro (Wipe the Soot), about struggles that patients in hospitals go through.

Playwright and director Timothy Ndisi, who has worked on Kikuyu and Kamba plays, says audiences keeps asking when the next play is going to be. Interestingly, they also ask for more online content in local languages.

“I think that people miss their native languages, and they want to support them. It is a good thing because these plays transfer our cultures from one generation to the next. It also creates employment for many performers and crew,” Timothy says.

He says the future for indigenous plays look bright with the reception they have been getting, only that they hope that theatre spaces start to offer better rates.

Thespian Cosmas Bii reminisces when the late Wahome Mutahi set precedence by staging plays in bars in Nakuru and Nairobi, drawing audiences from diverse ethnicities.

His Eldoret-based 64 Theatre outfit that mostly holds performances in Kalenjin dialect and sometimes in Luo and English.  However, he says, non-Kalenjin speakers make up the largest part of his audience.

When they staged Oret (The Way) in Nandi and Swahili languages, they reported a bigger audience in the former even from non-Nandi speakers.

“When we do local language shows, about 80 per cent are non-Kalenjins, and they understand how the story was going. We hope that we will be able to market our shows to get Kalenjins to attend,” he says