Theatre facelift secures State apology, land title and money

Polished marble floors bounce reflections of fluorescent light as the walls glister with fresh paint. Echo, darkness and the signature fusty smell have been banished from the Kenya National Theatre auditorium, along with 60 years of grime hiding rats and mice. Two actors who met as students at the University of Nairobi have come together on the national stage – for action.

After over 20 years in big theatrical roles, among them in Derek Walcott’s Dream on Monkey Mountain and in Kithaka wa Mberia’s Kifo Kisimani as well as establishing the storytelling genre with Zamaleo Act, Aghan Odero Agan has become a master of his emotions. On September 4, the executive director of the Kenya Cultural Centre let the facade crack to show his exhilaration when President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned the modernised facility.

“You have seen the battles waged by Kivutha Kibwana, Wangari Maathai and others over the Kenya National Theatre. And at the time it happens, you are the one in office when the tectonic plates are shifting and falling into place,” says Aghan, his voice still restrained with disbelief.

The theatre has caught public attention for all the wrong reasons – its land was being grabbed or it was in a deplorable state. A fresh title deed was to be issued this week, and the facility has been renovated after a two-year shutdown.

Alongside Aghan is another former actor: Hassan Wario, Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and the Arts. As an undergraduate anthropology student, Wario gave a masterful performance as Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Kenya National Theatre which is intimately enmeshed in the two men’s coming of age. This has eased debate on what needed doing.
Barely a week after he was sworn into office in May 2013, Wario accompanied Aghan on a visit to Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero’s office to sue for a reprieve. The theatre headed a list of rate defaulters due to be auctioned for Sh717 million in rates and penalties.

Sitting on 1.98 acres of prime land between Norfolk Hotel, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and the University of Nairobi, the theatre’s title deed was, apparently, not in the roll of properties handed over to the Kenya at independence and therefore registered as private land.

Its site, within spitting distance of the Norfolk Hotel, and a short hop from the national museum was not accidental: It was meant to be a citadel of colonial culture. The first Africans on its stage acted in stand-up comedy ridiculing the Mau Mau war in 1953 – but in front of the curtain.

“I was under no illusions that it was going to be easy,” Aghan recalls when he took the executive director’s job. On his first day at work, he had to attend court where a judgment was being given in a case filed by workers. The theatre had no legal representation.

WASTED CAREERS

Although established under an Act of Parliament, the Kenya Cultural Centre was not in the national budget until July last year, relying entirely on gate collections and charges for parking space.
The happy coincidence of Aghan and Wario’s shared past and current jobs is what placed the Kenya National Theatre on the list of Kenya@50 legacy projects, winning funding under the public-private partnerships to gut the insides of the 1952 building and restore it.

Kenya Breweries’ commitment to pay Sh100 million for the rehabilitation was inadequate after a site analysis. Renovating the building, restoring the stage and erecting sculptures was estimated to cost Sh300 million.

Scaling down the renovation opened the way to solving the theatre’s perennial pecuniary problems. With KBL unable to treble funding, the government stepped in with Sh40 million. Last year, the Kenya Cultural Centre was included in the budget after three years of seeking autonomy from the Department of Culture. Aghan had sought out his Bachelor of Commerce classmates -- now in charge of budgets and finance in government -- to help him make a case for the Kenya Cultural Centre. The matter got to Cabinet and was voted on.

At the reopening, the President said: “I must say pole for all the neglect, misunderstanding and ignorance which held back Kenya’s deserved creative dominance; denied our people the chance to experience art and culture at its finest; and wasted too many careers.”

A stained glass window lights up the staircase leading to the famous bar, now remodelled, and the 60-seater balcony where the President sat on the opening day. Below are another 300 seats in the main auditorium.

Richie Mwendwa, actor-DJ and acting sound engineer, beams as he explains the line array of the sound system at the back of the house: six pieces a side; centre piece; wireless microphones; digital mixer with two channels and capacity for four bands. “It is so funky, I am on YouTube learning it,” he says.

Spaces previously commandeered and turned into private offices have reverted to their original use. The floor of the dance studio glistens with polish and the walls are covered in mirrors.

The six changing rooms and two meeting rooms have been rehabilitated. Although the old curtain is still in place with its ancient pulley, the supplier has promised to install it in a week. Beneath the stage sits the orchestra pit, freshly painted in earthy brown, installed with a camera to enable the stage manager to see the band, and microphone pots. There are 48 lights installed, with a capacity for 80 others.

“It is fantastic! I love it,” says Ike Anoke after surveying the facility. “This is the perfect place for the arts,” says the Nigerian arte-preneur. He has booked the venue for a comedy show at the end of September with performers from Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.

Renovation has taken thrice as long as the seven months initially projected because the theatre is listed as a heritage of the built environment. Restoration experts had to certify the changes would not affect the longevity of the building. The façade could only be wire-brushed and cleaned but the old leaking roof has been replaced.

THEATRE HERITAGE

Now with its own water tank, power supply from the main grid, a back-up generator and new public toilets, the theatre is more confident to welcome Kenyans back to the old crucible of creativity.
“The theatre story should provide inspiration for warriors and champions of the arts to remain engaged; it should inspire bigger facilities … A national theatre of 365 seats is not enough. It has to grow to an international arts centre with a 2,000 to 3,000 seats capacity,” says Aghan.

Already, dates are filling up, with Fanaka Arts staging Amba Nyambure, a Kikuyu play, as the theatre heritage exhibition opens.

Veteran actor Steenie Njoroge, who has been in theatre for 35 years says; “Unless there is a calendar to mount at least three major productions a year that can make profits, unless such plays can have a run of two to three years, it will not be possible for groups to continue to use that space. It should be about artistes coming into their own.”

Last week, performance scholar and theatre artist Mshai Mwangola led discussions after a read-through of Mkawasi Mcharo-Hall’s original play, Puma – a drama incorporating dance, poetry and song in laying bare Kenya’s identity and existential crises. Puma will be staged for a month from November. It will be a double homecoming for the US-based Mkawasi, who was seen in many roles on the Kenya National Theatre stage in the 1990s.