BRAEBURN SCHOOLS’ COMMITMENT TO THEATRE INDISPUTABLE

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (4.15.23) Braeburn schools have illustrated their fervent commitment to the theatre arts in the past fortnight by staging several fabulous productions on a semi-professional scale. Most recently, we watched the Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, ‘Joseph and the Amazing technicolor Dreamcoat’, staged at Braeburn Gitanga Road (although the cast, musicians, and crew all came from Braeburn Garden Estate where the stage had flooded during recent rains). Then the weekend before, we saw ‘The Greatest Show Reimagined’, which was an adaptation of another musical, ‘The Greatest Showman’, which was again performed at Braeburn Gitanga by students from that school. And right before that came the adaptation of the George Orwell dystopic novel, ‘1984’ also at Braeburn Gitanga. So one can see, the school is not joking about having a solid commitment to introducing their students to a gold standard of theatrical experience and knowledge. What’s more, the shows expose a diversity in theatre genders and offer lots of teachable moments. For instance, ‘Joseph’ is Biblically based, the story drawn from the book of Genesis, but spiced up with contemporary lyrics by playwright Tim Rice and beautiful music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The whole Old Testament story is then sung by students, but narrated first by the powerful voice of Kendi Wairimu. It’s all backed up by a professional Kenyan band assembled by the show’s musical director (and keyboard) Peter Arendse. Then, ‘The Greatest Show Reimagined’ was biographical, based on the life of the masterful American entertainer, PT Barnum. And finally, ‘1984’ was a grim but ingenious dystopic straight play based on the novel that Orwell wrote back in 1949, but which is still as relevant as it was at that time. All three shows took special care with costuming and set designs, with only 1984 keeping their stage spartan and plain, which was wise as it evoked the Big Brother ideology of sameness being correct and difference implying individuality, nonconformity, and therefore, a threat to the State. In contrast, The Greatest Show Reimagined reflected a colorful circus-typed fantasy world befitting the story about the man who invented the circus and risked his life to be different and expose the value of diversity and difference. As far as costuming went, no show could top the ‘technicolor dreamcoat’ that Joseph’s father, Jacob unwisely gave to his favorite son. It was unwise because Jacob had a dozen other sons and their envy and jealousy of Joseph for being the most favored of all is understandable. But if you leave alone the fact that the designer who conceived of such a beautiful coat deserves highest marks for fashion design, then you must admit the brothers misbehaved badly by selling their bro into slavery. But even the monochromatic attire of the youth in 1984 was pertinent to the Big Brother goal of destroying creativity, imagination, and color. Even Winston Smith (Emma Zhoa) wore black and white despite his rebellious spirit and desire to break out of Big Brother’s omniscient surveillance system. But that show of conformity couldn’t conceal his ambition to break free from the system. He wasn’t killed physically, but the torture that he underwent (like the water-boarding) aimed at killing his spirit. For what could have been more devastating for Winston than the discovery that his lover Julia had betrayed him and secretly been a part of Big Brother’s government. All three productions told fascinating stories, which are determining factors in their staying power and success. But how did the Kenyan adaptations go as far as storytelling went? Personally, of the three, it felt like Joseph’s story translated best before a local audience. There were several reasons for that. First, the story is widely known, not just to Christians and Jews, but also to Muslims and other religious orders. And second, because Rice and Webber understood the advantage of creating a clear and powerful narrator who could guide us through the story, and fill in the gaps. After Joseph, I think 1984 was impactful, especially as the contrast between the love story and the torture scenes were painfully memorable. The mobs shouting as they moved around the upstairs stage were not quite so clear or audible as they were loud and incoherent. But their presence needed to be felt in contrast to the thought police. The Greatest Show Reimagined probably had the most heartfelt and touching story, about two sweet people who kept their love alive with their dreams, and they succeeded in the end.