Theatre and performed arts have always been a channel and a gauge for a society's concurrent motivation.
In fact, while Television, Radio and new media have often been influenced by gatekeepers and resorted to sensational reporting, Performed arts remain true to their form.
If you want to know what is really happening in a society, you are better off finding out which plays are being staged at Kenya National Theatre, and specifically Ukumbi Mdogo.
But arts require you to digest the message and if you lack the patience, itakupita tu.
News reports are broken down to suit the masses, but for Literature, Oral literature, spoken word, plays, cultural dances and even stand up comedy, the message may become clear after the performer has left the stage.
That happened to me after watching 'Jangoma,' a play by Highway Secondary at this year's Drama and Film Festivals.
Their costumes were exceptional, their energy electrifying. I was too enthralled by the female dancers, beautiful in their make up and hair.
Cultural dances list as number one in my favourites. You don't have to understand the language to enjoy the dance. I can still hear the. Instruments, the bells, the whistles, the horns, the drums from the dances long after I have left the halls.
I however only understood the really message of 'Jangoma after I read a piece on it in the The Standard Newspaper the following day.
Jael Jilo Jael Jilo was another charming dance by from Moi Girls Marsarbit.
Ah, the girls were beautiful. We thought they were Somali but, they were Borana. I was sitting next to their trainers
'Hiyo nywele ni Yao? -Is that their hair. Some in the audience were whispering.
They shook their hair, and the male dancers raised, angled and formed roofs, and pathways with their colourful sticks.
It was lively. Their costumes were well designed and modern.
The third dramatized dance I really enjoyed was by Nairobi University, from the minute they the bell to start went off, they maintained a steady beat, tap tap tap which I can still feel in my shoulders today
and the different roles were clear, the faces of each performer moved and changed with every scene. At no time were any members of the cast idle, the dancing continued even when they could have been on statue mode.
I didn't agree with the ending but I enjoyed😀
Highschool performances pull a bigger crowd though. There is more investment n the props, the costumes, and the instruments.
I mentioned these because they were different, it goes without saying that the dances from Kakamega definitely have their own unique vivacity, but drama festivals are a chance to experience Kenya as a whole.
Kenya is a delightful country.
And highschool performances are a rare showcase for it's different faces.
From the slender, silky haired North Eastern children, to the shapely western girls, the dark, shinny faces from Nyanza, the accented coastal Mijikenda, the less flexible Central dancers, the high pitched, light skinned Eastern performers. Ah. We really are exotic, we really are talented, we really are talented.
In the next input, I will talk about the plays, the spoken word and the live broadcast.
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