Lack of playtime plays out on stage

Should learners give equal attention to extracurricular activities as academic pursuits?

This was the monumental question on the third day of this year’s Kenya National  Drama Festival at Lohana Hall in Nakuru County yesterday.

Vivian Wambui of Moi Nairobi Girls High School in her solo verse Please Daddy highlights the mental torture students go through when they are denied the chance to take part in the drama festivals.
In the verse scripted by Isaac Kimiyuni and produced by Jael Muriithi, Wambui fearfully writes a letter to her father (daddy) asking for a chance to perform.

The verse encourages parents to support and nurture their children’s talent that could in later life make them earn millions when they eventually feature in national and international events.
First on stage yesterday was Chesamisi High School students, who presented an entertaining oral narrative Lumia C113 narrated by Olich Oloo Dan and Marrin Kusimba.

“We need digital leaders who have knowledge on governing the nation where realtime decisions are made to better our lives. Lumia is used to symbolise leadership,” said Kusimba in his story.
The narrative depicts a boy, Abscondita, who carries his Motorola C113 phone to school and manages to win a Lumia in Safaricom promotion ‘Bonyeza ushinde’.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY

The verse takes a hilarious turn when Abscondita is unable to use the Lumia and is suspended from school and will only be readmitted on condition that he becomes a ‘digital’ citizen.

The verse challenges all government officials to take charge of their offices to improve services. The narrator says the officials can only do this by making use of modern technology.

Nyeri County’s Tumutumu Girls High School staged choral verse Brayo that portrays wayward students who play truant. In the narrative, school authorities successfully tackle drug abuse, carrying of illegal items to school and blatant breaking of rules to enhance discipline and improve performance.

Homa Bay’s Karabok Secondary School staged a Kiswahili play Parakwanja la Kajificheni, which touches on the topical issue of grabbing of public land meant for public schools. The play was scripted by Simon Kola.

The cattle rustling menace also played out on stage as Baricho High School presented Kiswahili play Inspector Alfayo which highlighted the plight of schools in regions affected by banditry.

Kajiado County’s Laiser Hill Academy staged powerful play The Class of Grass written by Anthony Kirimi. The play condemns the irresponsibility of a doctor who refuses to attend to a dying university student who had taken illicit brew from the slums.

Details emerge that the doctor’s decision is meant to conceal his collusion with a private clinic owner where drugs are stolen from the public hospital and sold out illegally, denying the health centre essential medicine.

Excellent acting by Eugene Andanji, Bronix Mecadly, Kelvin Kiromo, and Syvia Gachuhi brings out the message, which warns public institutions against offering poor services.

At Nakuru Lions Primary School hall, Shimo la Tewa  Borstal School started presented choral verse Tabia Bandiliko, which brought to the fore the drug menace at the Coast.

The choral verse was directed by George Gitonga.