When Stephanie Maseki first joined the Little Theatre Club (LTC) in 2012, the theatre was a quiet space.
Throughout the years, however, the actor and producer has been one of its most active performers, staging plays that have helped bring life back to the venue.
Maseki is the third female chairperson, after Jean Koch and Awita, since the club's inception in 1946.
Her first acting role at the club was Zuena in 2013, and she has since staged productions such as Dangerous Divas, The Criminal Enterprise and Family Affairs.
“I have given the club a lot of productions, making it vibrant, and we continue to do so. It has given me a space that is incomparable to any other. It’s a good space for creatives,” she says.
It is this long-standing relationship with the theatre that led her to accept the role of chairperson, even though initially she had no intention of contesting the position.
The veteran thespian was elected during the club's annual general meeting on July 26 in a members' election that had been planned for more than two months.
The process was overseen by an independent election commission, with 84 members voting to fill the positions of chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, treasurer and committee members.
“I didn’t intend to run until late in the week. I have responsibilities with my production house and initially wanted to focus on that. But several senior members encouraged me to vie because I understand the club's needs and use the space frequently,” she says.
She is seated at the chairpersonship while holding several leadership positions in the creative sector. She serves on the board of the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), leads the production house SeKiBa Empire, and works as an actor and producer.
Her election depicts a long-standing commitment to strengthening the business of the arts. Through her work at SeKiBa Empire and the KFCB, she has consistently advocated for sustainability, capacity building and a more professional creative industry.
She wants to channel that experience into restoring the LTC to its former glory. The theatre has faced challenges in some years and revival in others in the past decades.
“I want to bring the place back to its former glory. I want it to be a sustainable space where people are proud to come. I want to bring back the vibrancy,” she says.
Maseki says that reviving the club starts with securing resources and improving the venue so that it becomes more attractive to artists, audiences and organisations.
During her two-year tenure, she plans to prioritise partnerships with the national and county governments, corporate organisations and development partners to strengthen the LTC financially.
A part of that strategy is the establishment of a board of trustees. About eight potential trustees were proposed during the annual general meeting, and she says that they will play an important role in resource mobilisation, proposal writing and strengthening the club's governance.
She further wants to strengthen management structures and rebuild public confidence in the Club, saying that renewed trust will make it easier to get partnerships and funding.
She also hopes to reconnect with senior members who patronised the club and were its support base.
“Many of our senior members were not necessarily artists, but they were some of the biggest supporters of theatre. They bought tickets, attended our productions and hold respected positions in the community. Bringing them back will help restore confidence in the club," she says.
Moreover, the LTC intends to continue working with organisations such as Swahilipot Hub and Alliance Française Mombasa while encouraging more production houses to stage performances at the theatre.
Maseki believes that the future of the theatre also depends on empowering artists to build sustainable careers through entrepreneurship and intellectual property awareness. She expressed gratitude to the Goethe-Institut for its support over the past two years in funding capacity-building programmes and hopes to attract more partners willing to invest in artists' professional development.
She adds that the relations between the LTC and Kenya Railways have improved after previous disagreements over the land occupied by the theatre were resolved, allowing the organisation to focus on rebuilding.
Maseki will lead a committee comprising vice-chairperson, treasurer Austin Odaba, secretary Mbashir Shambi, and committee members John Wesonga, Yasin Juneja, Caroline Rita Mutua, Mariam Dzungu, Karen Litala and Abass Ahmed.
Committee member and actor John Wesonga says that the new leadership also wants to reposition the LTC as a cultural hub while preserving its heritage.
“I want to revive the theatre as a cultural space, not only a performance space. I want to look at how to make it more of a monument,” he says.
He says that the committee is working closely with the museum because of the theatre's heritage value. Plans are underway to restore the historic photographs displayed on the walls and digitise the venue through online information sharing and booking systems.
Wesonga adds that the committee hopes to raise the theatre's international profile, encourage more support for the creative arts from Kenya Railways, and undertake a membership drive to attract more supporters.
“We want to go international with the theatre. We hope that Kenya Railways will focus on the creative arts more, even if they are starting a school at the KTC grounds. We will do a membership drive for the theatre,” he says.
As she begins her tenure, Maseki hopes that the LTC will once again become a thriving home for theatre and the creative community.
“I want creatives to own the space again. I want the LTC to be a place where people are proud to come, create and perform,” she says.
Photos: Courtesy