Kenya Theatre Awards: Mix of old and new as theatre honours its finest

 Ngugi wa Thiongo's I Will Marry When I want and Woodcreek's Mekatilili wa Menza were among the biggest winners during the Kenya Theatre Awards.

In an eclectic mix of old and new, the two big winners of the second edition of the Kenya Theatre Awards (KTAs), held at the Kenya National Theatre, couldn't have had a bigger difference in fortunes.

While the epic play by Kenya's playwright Ngugi wa Thiong'o I Will Marry When I Want, which was the biggest winner of the night, has a 45-year-old history behind it, Woodcreek School's Mekatilili wa Menza is probably emblematic of Kenya's budding theatre scene going forward.

The night's runaway winner, I Will Marry When I Want, scooped seven awards including Best Musical Score, Best Production and Best Stage Manager while its director Stuart Nash and actor Bilal Mwaura took the Best Director and Best Performer in a Leading Role award respectively.

The Kikuyu version of the play, Ngahika Ndeenda, took home the Best Kikwetu Production (Vernacular Shows) award. Mekatilili wa Menza, on the other hand, scooped four gongs including Best Set Design and Best Original Choreography.

Originally performed at the Kamirithu Community Educational and Cultural Centre in 1977, Ngugi's play had been banned by the government of the day and its playwrights arrested.

Its return to the Kenya National Theatre, essentially hosted by the government's Cultural Centre, is evidence of how far Kenya's creative scene has come in freely expressing itself.

Directed by Lewis Xavier Kavoi, Mekatilili wa Menza, on the other hand, brought together over 100 children of school-going age in an epic three-hour production at the ultra-modern auditorium in Woodcreek School.

It is a tale of one of Kenya's legendary early female freedom fighters told by children who, far removed from the days of the ill-fated Kamirithu, don't have to look over their shoulders in expressing themselves creatively.

The other big winner of the night was Martin Kigondu, who took home the Best Playwright of an Original Script and Best Male Performance in a Solo Production awards for his play Supernova. The prolific actor, producer and director had a great year in 2022, taking part in major productions such as Irregardless, Blessed be the Fruit, Speak Their Names and was a multiple nominee last night.

Now going into its third year, the Kenya Theatre Awards brings together some of Kenya's leading lights on stage, film and theatre scholars and yesterday saw some of its veterans, including Storymoja's Muthoni Garland and Ian Mbugua, grace the red carpet event.

The night's Guest of Honour was the Cabinet Secretary, Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts, Hon Ababu Namwamba. According to Fedari Oyugi, Chairman of the KTAs, the awards are a representation of the industry's growth.

"The theatre industry in Kenya is currently experiencing a major resurgence, which has been fuelled by the recent focus on theatre and the establishment of platforms to honour the craft. The level of competition and the calibre of the nominees in the awards are clear indications of the strides that have been made, and the winners should be proud to represent the cream of the crop from a pool of equally talented artistes," he said, adding that in the next cycle, they anticipate even greater performance numbers, more media exposure and coverage, and larger audiences to match the incredible talent that theatre acts have on show.

Equally ebullient about the night was the KTA's Head of Jury, Benson Ngobia who expressed his joy at the awards.

"The second Kenya Theatre Awards was all it was hyped up to be, and then some! We successfully presented Kenya's theatre glitterati for the year 2022 to the world and the smiles, laughs and selfies from the winners were very much deserved. On behalf of the jury, I can say with authority that we haven't had a concerted effort to document and watch as many as the number of productions that we registered last year," he said.

In coming up with its list of nominees, the jury considered over 170 plays, accounting for well over 500 performances across 2022.

The jury votes accounted for 80 percentage points before the list is presented to the public, as it was on January 25, for a month-long public voting. The idea is to allow for public participation while still providing for fair professional assessment since the members of the jury get to watch all the productions across the year.

According to Ngobia, the jury noted that the quality of productions was top-notch, with major improvements in storytelling, scripting, authentic stories and adaptations.

"Last year also saw a lot of experimental work coming in as well, and performers going out of their way to hone their craft, which saw cut-throat competition in the individual categories. A lot of work still needs to go into sound design, as brilliant productions were also affected by this. The production designers also upped their game, with spectacular aesthetics, especially for historical indigenous stories. Kenyan theatre is on the way up, that's for sure, and I'm happy that we get to be a part of this revolution as it happens," he enthused.

For its Special Category Awards, the jury recognised veteran thespians Ogutu Muraya, Annabel Maule, the Creative Arts Spaces in Kenya (CASiK) and Dance into Space for their contribution to the growth of theatre in Kenya.