Theatre is big at Storymoja Festival 2017- PHOTOS

Zimbabwean actor Kevin Hanssen stars in one man show titled Dickens on Wednesday night at the Storymoja Festival 2017. PHOTO| MARGARETTA WA GACHERU

What you need to know:

  • Walking in the writer’s own footsteps, Kevin recalls that Dickens himself used to give public performances of his writings, both in the UK and in the States where he became a 19th century equivalent of a “rock star”.
  • Kevin Hanssen also came to Kenya to restage Silvia Cassini’s powerful play, A Man like You which he will perform on Saturday night from 6pm with the same cast that he was with this past May in Nairobi, and then in Harare and Cape Town.

Storymoja Festival celebrates its 10thanniversary this year with the theme Black Peace but when it opens on Wednesday September 27, there will be lots of light, illuminating literary, artistic and theatrical activities every day through Sunday night.

Theatre performances will hit a special high this year, starting Wednesday night when the Zimbabwean actor, Kevin Hanssen stages his one-man show titles Dickens at the Louis Leakey Auditorium at the Nairobi National Museum. The museum will be the location of the festival.

Kevin Hanssen costars with Mike kudakwashe in A Man like You Saturday at Storymoja 2017 fete. PHOTO| MARGARETTA WA GACHERU

Based on the writings of Charles Dickens, Kevin will perform excerpts of two of the British writer’s best known novels, A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. He’ll also relate Dickens’ complete short story, “The Signalman” which the actor says is something of a ghost story.

FOLLOWING IN WRITER’S FOOTSTEPS

Walking in the writer’s own footsteps, Kevin recalls that Dickens himself used to give public performances of his writings, both in the UK and in the States where he became a 19th century equivalent of a “rock star”.

Kevin Hanssen also came to Kenya to restage Silvia Cassini’s powerful play, A Man like You which he will perform on Saturday night from 6pm with the same cast that he was with this past May in Nairobi, and then in Harare and Cape Town.

Also in the Man Like You cast are Davina Leonard (who performs her own one-woman show, Every Brilliant Thing on Sunday at 5pm, also on the Louis Leakey stage), Omwoma Mbogo and another Zimbabwean actor Mike Kudakwashe who replaced Maina Olwenya.

Zimbabwean actor Kevin Hanssen stars in one man show titled Dickens on Wednesday night at the Storymoja Festival 2017. PHOTO| MARGARETTA WA GACHERU

Mike plays a Somali so-called terrorist (who could also be construed as a man with a personal grudge) which is a very different role from the one he’ll play on Sunday night at Leakey Auditorium. He’ll put on his comedic cap and do a stand-up comedy session. It’s a gig that’s made him a pop star back home in Harare.

A Man Like You will be staged on Saturday night from 6pm followed by Sitawa Namwalie’s Room of Lost Names at 8pm.

An excerpt from Silvia’s A Man will also be staged during the Gala Night on Friday.

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The Storymoja Festival is spread out over 5 days from 27th September to 1st October 2017 and includes more than 100 events, including special masterclasses for creatives, concerts, evening events and theatre shows.