REHEARSALS FOR NGUGI’S PLAY IN FULL SWING

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (April 22,2022)

There were performing arts in Kenya long before the British colonizer came and claimed, as the Donovan Maule Theatre did, that it was bringing the best of London’s West End theatre to the deepest of dark Africa.

Long before a National Theatre was established in 1952, there were Kenyan people performing orature (oral rather than written literature) in the form of storytelling, singing of original songs or those handed down from generation to generation, and even dancing in rituals and ceremonies marking events like harvests and weddings and births of treasured new borns.

But a number of communities were stripped of those traditions once the new religion, Christianity, came in and deemed most of those indigenous traditions ‘bestial’ or ‘primitive’ or even ‘sinful’.

It wasn’t until 1977 that people in Central Province had the opportunity to watch an original play in their own language and in a theatre that the local people of Kamiirithu had constructed themselves.

Ngaahika Ndeenda was written by two academics, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ngugi wa Mirii who collaborated with members of that community to both create the stage and refine their script to make it most relevant to the lives of the locals.

The play was a smash hit, attracting people from people from all over the countryside. It was misunderstood by some Kenyans who claimed the two Ngugi’s were being ‘tribalists’. But what critics didn’t understand was that the play was meant to inspired Kenyans in every nation, be they from the Lake, the Coast, or the far North to script their own plays and tell their own stories in their own mother tongues.

But the fact that thousands of Kenyans flocked to Kamiirithu to watch a story which mirrored so many facets of their own lives, threatened the powers that be. They had never seen such a grassroot respond to community theatre, and they felt threatened, sadly.

One Ngugi was detained. The other fled the country. But that play has never been forgotten. And on May 12^th, the English version of Ngaahika Ndeenda, I will marry when I want, will be staged at Kenya National Theatre.

The same cast will perform the Kikuyu version of the play as well; and the show’s director, Stuart Nash, hopes the public will come to see both versions of this modern classic.

It has got a star-studded cast including Bilal Mwaura, Nice Githinji, Martin Githinji, Angel Waringe, Martin Kigondu, Maryanne Nyambura, and Anne Stella as Gathoni. All of them are popular actors best known to those who watch cable television or live theatre productions.

For instance, Bilal was last seen in ‘Crime and Justice’ while Nice starred in ‘Rafiki’. Martin Githinji made his most indelible mark in ‘Sue na Johnnie’ as did Anne Stella, while Martin Kigondu is both an actor as well as a playwright and producer/director of a number of original plays. Angel was Miss Morgan in ‘Tahini High’ while Maryanne has been the backbone of Fanaka Arts.

There is also a massive cast of singers, dancers, and characters who also play essential roles to bring this marvelous play to vibrant life.

Rehearsals for both Kikuyu and English versions of ‘I’ll Marry When I Want’ are in full swing. Nash is a professional who has had decades of experience both producing and directing theatre as well as starring in it when he was abroad.

The former Artistic Director at KNT has already proven his worth by staging popular musicals such as ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Sarafina’, ‘Grease’, “Annie’, and ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’. Nash is also the founder and artistic director of the Nairobi Performing Arts Studio (NPAS) which recognized the need of young Kenyans for professional training in the performing arts. Many of them have gone on to develop careers in theatre, television, film.

The story of Ngaahika Ndeenda is a delicate one. It is all about land and religion, hypocrisy and duplicity, class and the deep disparity between rich and poor in Kenya. It has wonderful comedic elements to it, but it also tackles hard core issues that still have relevance today such misogyny, poverty, sexuality, and the role that religion has played and continued to play in Kenyan society.

It is said that Ngugi’s play has been staged in other parts of the world. But it’s been nearly 45 years since Ngaahika Ndeenda was shut down by the State. No one expects that this time round, there will be a similar reaction from the powers that be.

“The political climate has changed a lot since those dark old days,” says Fanual Mulwa, assistant director of the play.