ROMANTIC LOVE EXCITES LOCAL THESPIANS IN MANY WAYS

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 5 February 2020)

While several performances are planned for next week focused on Valentine’s and sharing various views of romantic love, Heartstrings Kenya’s comedy, ‘Good for Nothing’ is currently looking at ‘love’ in a slightly more jaded, flippant and materialistic light.

Heartstrings’ show is actually good for something since it brings together an ensemble of actors who play off one another very well. As usual, their script is devised by the whole crew, a few of whom are quite new but quick to pick up on the way Sammy Mwangi directs his faithful team of actors.

This time round, the story is about two female university students, one (Adelyne Wairimu) from a ‘good family’, the other (Bernice Nthenya) is born of a single mother (Joan Arigi), and both leading double lives, one at home, the other on campus.

But they are not the only ones leading double lives. So is Wajogu’s dad, Mr T (Paul Ogola). But I don’t want to give too much of this clever plot away. All I will say is that Heartstrings never grows stale since the group is ever being renewed with new players like Joan Arigi and Fischer Maina playing Bernice’s campus boyfriend. At the same, Anne Kamau and Mackrine Andala are Heartstring regular who were among the cast that opened last night (through Sunday) at Alliance Francaise.

Two members of Heartstrings who won’t be in ‘Good for Nothing’ are Cyrian Osoro and Victor Nyaata. They, as founder members of Mkisi Ni Mkisi are staging a Gusii stand-up comedy night called Ensacha Enkungu this Saturday, Febrary 8^th from 6pm at Kenya National Theatre.

They encourage non-Gusii speakers to come tomorrow night as they say there will be plenty of live music and enough Kiswahili, Sheng and English thrown into the show to entertain

Tomorrow is also the day when the London-based Kenyan dancer Joel Kioko will fly in to start a week of rigorous rehearsals at Dance Centre Kenya for ‘Romeo and Juliet’, directed by DCK’s artistic director, Cooper Rust

Joel, who will play Romeo, got his start in ballet learning from one DCK student, Annabel Shaw who will play Juliet this weekend, February 15^th and 16^th, at KNT. It’s a performance you won’t want to miss.

Finally, next Friday night, Dr Zippy Okoth stars in what she calls a ‘storytelling’ session about romantic love, entitled ‘Agatha’. She’ll perform at the Kwa Wangwana Wine Garden in Lavington from 7pm.