SETH BUSOLO CELEBRATES FATHER'S DAY WITH MUSICAL THEATRE WHILE SHAKESPEARE'S REVISED AT PAWA254

Joys and trials of fathers dominate production’s theme 

Three dads sing a harmony in Seth Busolo’s play. Photo/MARGARETTA WA GACHERU 

By Margaretta wa Gacheru
Posted  Thursday, June 12  2014 at  15:40

In Summary

• Scheduled to coincide with Father’s Day, Seth Busolo’s script synthesised the experience of nine long-suffering dads who struggle with issues related to fatherhood, from telling children about sex to coping with staggering bills such as those that hospitals send after insisting the wife must have a costly Caesarian section.

Three productions staged this past weekend were wonderfully diverse, illustrating the vitality and versatility of Kenyan casts. All in various genres, from musical theatre to vibrant storytelling and chamber theatre, the one show that we can still see is tonight at PAWA 254, when Robin Denault’s Hate by Shakespeare is being staged with some of the most interesting Kenyan actors around.

All three productions were engaging and original; all told expressive well researched real life stories and all mixed various performative media to create a fascinating theatre weekend.

Wholesome Entertainment’s City Dads and the Women Who Love Them, scripted by Seth Busolo and staged at the Alliance Francaise blended comedy and drama with sweet original love songs written by Benjamin Webi, one of the three ‘dads’ — the other two are Michael Oyier and Steve Katingina.

Webi was at one time part of a musical trio whose harmonising made me want to run out and get a CD of all the songs they sang. The oral tradition of storytelling in Kenya is being revived by groups like Zamaleo who are spreading its appreciation by performing both here and abroad.

Sigana’s Sixth International Storytelling Festival brought together Kenyan and Danish storytellers who dramatised delightful tales from Kenya, Ghana, Denmark and Japan.

They were accompanied by a talented team of Kenyan musicians playing indigenous instruments like the single-string orutu played by George Achieng, the njembe drum and marimba (xylophone) played by Titus Ngala, a huge animal horn blown by Joseph Ojunga and more percussions by Willie Rama and Rose Kinjanjui, who doubled up as one of the Zamaleo storytellers.

The other Kenyan Zamaleo storytellers included Alumbe Helen, Wangari Grace, Lucy Wellah and John Namai. Newton Kweya served as the festival MC. The three demonstrative Danes included Anna Grethe Bech, Marianne Christensen and Kamilla Holm. The youthful Kenya Utamaduni Junior Dancers complimented the storytellers’ tales with their vigorous movements.

Hate by Shakespeare, which was produced last weekend at the Karen Country Club, introduced a form of acting known as chamber theatre, directed by playwright Robin Denault. Samson Psenjen, Charles Oudo, Chao Mwatela and Jack Gitonga, rather than moving freely around a stage, stood in one spot with script in hand, dramatising Denault's elegant script which, like his earlier Love by Shakespeare, combined three of Shakespeare’s plays, Richard the Third, Henry the Fifth and Macbeth in one original plot that not only offered rare insight into the Bard’s historical plays, it also allowed us to witness awesome performances by four of Nairobi’s finest actors.

Shakespeare staged in such a stationary format might sound dull, but what chamber theatre does is rely more on the Bard’s melodious words and the power of the performers’ voices than on their physical motion on stage.

The Shakespearean actor from Canada wanted to make the Bard more accessible to wider audiences who in the past may have shied away from his works because they couldn't understand his Elizabethan English.

Busolo’s City Dads also relied on the voices of the cast, particularly the songs that essentially summarised the feelings elicited following each scenario staged. The storyline was based on Seth and Daisy Busolo’s research into the joys, trials and challenges of being a father in Kenya today.

Scheduled to coincide with Father’s Day, Seth Busolo’s script synthesised the experience of nine long-suffering dads who struggle with issues related to fatherhood, from telling children about sex to coping with staggering bills such as those that hospitals send after insisting the wife must have a costly Caesarian section.

Mixing humour and heart-warming lyrics while revealing men’s vulnerabilities and secret fears, City Dads told tales that one rarely hears from Kenyan men in public today.

Looking forward, Heartstrings Kenya opens this Tuesday night at Alliance Francaise in their new production, Kenyan Hustlers and Gatherers, which is bound to be hilarious, Sammy Mwangi having mastered the skill of combining social commentary with humour.

Finally, the new Ubuni’s School of Media and Creative Arts organised its second successful scriptwriting workshop last weekend. This time Keith Kinambuga of the Kenya Writers Guild concentrated on the fine points of Writing for ‘Episodic TV’.