Narrator’s radical stories tickle, win awards

By Phares Mutembei

At the just-concluded national schools and colleges drama festival Meru, Eastern Province, a star was born. Eric Mutwiri, the Standard Eight pupil mesmerised theatre lovers with his captivating tales, delivered in style.

Eric presented one of the most impressive performances of the entire event, earning him admiration and praise.

The Kanyekine Boys’ Primary School pupil has graced the national stage several times, and this time it was to present a narrative titled Lunch Time.

"I was crying out for the rights of Kenyan children, both at school and home. School children have had a lot of problems lately and I wanted to make that point at the festival," Eric told Generation Next.

Lunch Time was number one in Eastern Province, and scooped second position at the national drama festival.

"Children should be comfortable at school. In my narrative, I suggested that the lesson just before lunchtime should be free.

At that stage, most of us are hungry and tired, concentration is at its lowest, so teachers might be wasting time and chalk.

You don’t expect pupils to pay attention when all they are thinking of is food, do you?" he says.

The piece also touched on the problems pupils faced during and after the post-election violence. Eric also scooped honours at the festival held in Nakuru last year. Then he presented the narrative Underwear which not only made the audience and judges gasp in shock at first, but also so impressed that it was number three.

"Then, I narrated about the importance of children wearing underwear. There are many diseases that can infect children when their bottoms are left bare. It is not good for children to sit on dirty surfaces and walk around naked," says Eric who aspires to be journalist.