Marriage, conflict in focus at national drama fete

Pupils from Nakuru Elite Academy stage a play, My Pet and I, during the second day of the Kenya Schools and Colleges National Drama Festival at Lions Primary School in Nakuru on April 8, 2015. PHOTO | ANTHONY NJAGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Doors to Perception, a play presented by Meru’s Kaaga Girls High School during the festivals in Nakuru, provoked memories of last year’s fatal shooting of bus passengers and quarry workers by terrorists in Mandera County.
  • The production captured the audience with its enactment of daylight executions by armed groupings.
  • Dzitsoni Secondary School from the coast entertained the audience with a serving of its narrative  Mapochopocho, which advocated for merit among public officers to root out corruption.

Conflict between rival people has led to massive loss of lives and property, with authorities yet to find the formula for enduring peace.

At the national drama festival, one play yesterday demonstrated how inter-tribal marriages can transform hostility into hospitality, hate into love.

Doors to Perception, a play presented by Meru’s Kaaga Girls High School during the festivals in Nakuru, provoked memories of last year’s fatal shooting of bus passengers and quarry workers by terrorists in Mandera County.

Drawing from the attacks, it portrayed how rivalry between members of different communities can be addressed through intermarriage.

In a simple story line, the play tells of a Yoruba village which is torn apart by tribal hatred caused by a struggle over a quarry. Politicians and businessmen use all means possible to gain control the mine and its handsome returns.

However, the villagers unite in celebrating weddings and mourning deaths, and that quickly earns politicians and businessmen who are funding militias the title “cannibals out to murder villagers”. The production captured the audience with its enactment of daylight executions by armed groupings.

Kimilili Boys High School’s Kiswahili play Kuku Mla Watu portrayed the agony that families of security officers experience due to conflicts, with the story of a newly recruited policeman who has been deployed to a banditry-prone zone to go after cattle thieves.

Dzitsoni Secondary School from the coast entertained the audience with a serving of its narrative  Mapochopocho, which advocated for merit among public officers to root out corruption.

Brian Nyaigoti from Naikuro Pentecostal Assemblies of God Secondary School presented a stand-up comedy that made a hilarious description of students’ escapades during drama festivals, while Seeds  of Sin, a play by Shimo la Tewa Secondary School depicted how parental guidance and responsibility are important for a child’s success. The competition is taking place at Lohana Hall, Nakuru Lions, and Menengai High School.