By: Drama Kenya Festivals.
The only play that would have competed with Kakamega
High School favorably would have been the Butere Girls’ play: Shackles of Doom.
Were it not for the controversy Butere generated before and during the festival
it was obvious they would have competed Kakamega favourably in the secondary
play genre. Produced by Dorah Okalla,Shackles of
In the Kakamega play, a violent storm brews as two
brothers compete to win over the heart of a beautiful woman. The aftermath of
their quest is disastrous as the younger brother does all he can to marry the
woman’s heart even if it means killing those against him.
The Tempest addresses thorny land issues in Kenya
and takes an audit of lives lost and the reluctance by landowners and the
Government to get a lasting solution to it.
Co-directed by Patrick Odhiambo, John Mitivi and
Minishi, the cast of Edison Masinde, Kihiko Francis, Kevin Kiromo and Jonathan
Rao impressed audience with their ability to improvise and naturally execute
the text bringing it to life.
Kakamega’s dance Bushi depicts an exploitative
scenario precipitated by an authoritarian government regime capitalising on an
oil find. Unlike other oil discoveries that come with years of prospecting, the
Bushi community’s find is accidental since theirs was a search for water
through borehole sinking but bump into oil instead.
There is a striking thematic similarity with Butere
Girls’ play Shackles of Doom and the Kakamega High School dance. At the end of
the festival Kakamega came through as the indomitable kings of drama with a
resounding win not only in play but also dance.
When it was announced that Bushi the dance by
Kakamega High School had beaten Karima Girls’ Thayu and Kenya High’s Signecha,
the talking drums of Isikuti started renting the air in the moonlit grounds of
the Aga Khan hall Mombasa.
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