Learners spotlight CBE gaps, generational change, mental health in drama

Nyangweso Junior Secondary School from Nyanza presents a play entitled Kenya Sign Language at the drama festival in Kagumo TTC, Nyeri. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

Emerging performances at the national drama and film festival continue to spotlight urgent social issues affecting the learners.

Boldly, they hold a mirror to a society grappling with unfulfilled promises, interrogating systemic inequality, mental health, cultural identity, and the widening gap between policy and lived reality in powerful stage plays, evocative cultural dances and multilingual narratives.

One of the most compelling productions, ‘Grace in the Gutter’ by Vihiga High School, produced by Albert Masiolo, lays bare the inequalities embedded within the education system.

The play follows Antony Amlyoto, a bright Grade 10 student passionate about robotics and programming, whose dreams are stifled by a poorly equipped school.

“Just recently, I put up my project in the national competition. However, my current school… is ill-equipped to offer skills in robotics and computer programming,” Amulyoto laments in the play.

Despite scoring 72 points in the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) and qualifying for a top-tier school, financial constraints forced him into a poorly equipped institution under the government’s 100 per cent transition policy.

His frustration grows into rebellion, as he declares, “The system is full of errors… what is the meaning of a lamp lit and put under a bed?” he questions, capturing the frustration of thousands of learners trapped in under-resourced schools.

The play sharply critiques inequalities between well-resourced and under-resourced schools, exposing how poverty and institutional neglect suffocate talent. His eventual triumph, winning an innovation award for his AI project, offers hope, but also raises uncomfortable questions about how many other dreams remain buried.

Thika High School for the Blind delivered a moving cultural dance, ‘MûKûi,’ that brought attention to equity in education.

The story of a talented but needy soloist sent home over school fees struck a chord with audiences, as fellow students staged a symbolic protest to secure his return.

“Education should not be a privilege for the few,” the performance said.

The dance reflects ongoing struggles among vulnerable learners, particularly those in special needs institutions, who face compounded barriers.

Maranda High School’s play ‘The Misfit’ explored the silent crisis of mental health among young people in society.

Through the character Alpha—a student who writes letters to himself to cope with anxiety—the play reveals the emotional isolation hidden behind academic pressure.

“It is through those letters that my silence learns to breathe,” Alpha says.

The narrative takes a tragic turn with the attempted suicide of Icon, a bully masking his own pain.

The performance underscores a critical message: the greatest wounds are often inflicted not by enemies, but by those closest to us.

Learners urged schools and families to move beyond academic performance to nurture emotional well-being.

“Parents, you need to spend time with your sons,” one character urges.

The same message was also carried by Ribe High School, in a live TV broadcast.

Innovation versus tradition emerged as another dominant theme in Meru School’s play ‘The Radio’, produced by Henry Rutere Mwenda.

The play captures the friction between Gen Z’s forward-thinking mindset and traditional structures resistant to change. Yet it also offers a pathway forward—dialogue. By the end, innovation is not seen as a threat, but as a bridge between generations.

Here, in a tradition-bound village, Tesla and Naira pioneer the radio as their bold innovation of learning through the MIC OF HOPE. Elders denounce it as a threat to tradition, straining families and pushing the village council to silence it.

 “Our innovation is not rebellion, it is hope,” the learners said. The play champions intergenerational dialogue, suggesting that progress need not erase tradition, but rather refine it.

Issues of social class and systemic injustice took centre stage in Riara Springs Girls Academy’s play ‘The Golden Key’.

Through a courtroom-style narrative, the play exposes how elite systems exploit marginalised communities.

“The truth is rooted in lived pain,” says Stacy, the protagonist from Mukuru Sinai, as she challenges a system designed to silence the marginalised.

The golden key, the spider web, the illusion of “Treasure Island”—illustrate that opportunity is often controlled, not freely given. However, the authority comes in to solve the informal habitation through affordable houses to give equal opportunity to low-income residents.

Yet the play ends with a call for transformation, where dignity, education and safety are framed not as privileges, but as rights.

Kaaga Girls’ play ‘Nembo la Urembo’ produced by Eunice Maeke tackled gender and societal expectations placed on young women, particularly the tension between education and beauty standards, while Laiser Hill Academy’s Wills of Hills examined identity, cultural dislocation and the burden of parental expectations.

Salvation Army Joytown Secondary School, ‘Kamwana’, explored the dangers of imposing career paths on young people. Produced by Dr Everlyn, a student forced into engineering suffers a near-fatal accident during a practical lesson before his parents accept his dream of content creation.

“This life-altering moment forces them to confront their decision,” the story reveals, emphasising the dangers of suppressing talent.

Integrity in co-curricular activities also came under scrutiny in Kianyaga High School’s play ‘The Rebound.’

Through Billy, a gifted basketball player whose documents are questionable, the production questioned the integrity of competition systems, exposed deep-rooted corruption in school sports and overage cheating and doping.

“Victory starts to feel like theft,” Billy admits, capturing the moral conflict between success and honesty. The play reflects growing concerns over age cheating and manipulation in school games, where talent is sometimes overshadowed by fraud.

Meanwhile, Kahuguini Boys' modern dance ‘The Final Whistle,’ staged a chilling depiction of how minor indiscipline can spiral into tragedy.

Produced by George Gucu, what begins as a plan to sneak out for a football match ends in arson, injury and arrest. “Small rebellion can destroy everything,” the narrative warns, echoing real-life cases of school fires that have cost lives and property.

The emphasis on accountability and counselling underscored the need for discipline and mental guidance.

Collectively, these performances reveal a generation demanding fairness, emotional support and freedom to pursue their true potential.

This life-altering moment forces his parents to confront the reality of their decision and the risks of denying their son’s true passion. Realising their mistake, they finally chose to support his dreams.

In a powerful and humorous yet deeply reflective narrative titled ‘Viral,’ Kabare Girls used the stage to unpack the growing influence of social media on learners, exposing the silent pressures of digital validation, identity struggles and the widening gap between rural and urban experiences.

Set against the backdrop of a remote village with no internet connectivity, the story follows a young girl raised by her grandmother, whose life takes a dramatic turn after joining a modern boarding school. Her transition from a simple, offline upbringing into a hyper-connected environment is anything but smooth.

“In our village, there is no network, therefore no internet, social media… that is the kind of environment that I was raised in,” she narrates. But upon joining her new school, reality hits hard. “That was not a transition; it was a thunder shock that requires special insurance cover immediately.”

Through a narrative, ‘Viral,’ Kabare Girls injected humour while tackling the pressures of digital identity. The story of a rural girl navigating a tech-savvy school environment highlights the gap between offline and online worlds.

“That was not a transition, it was a thunder shock,” she says of her first encounter with digital culture.

Her attempt to “go viral” ends in public embarrassment after mistakenly using a teacher’s account. “Indeed, I had gone viral—but in a very shameful way,” she admits.

The play critiques the obsession with online validation, reminding audiences that self-worth cannot be measured by likes and views. “I decided never to post myself to the society that I do not belong to,” she concludes.

She reminds audiences that while the internet offers a platform for visibility, true worth is not measured by likes or views, but by character, purpose and self-belief. In a world obsessed with trends, the play challenges learners to ask: at what cost do we seek to be seen?