KENYAN & GLOBAL STORYTELLERS WOW THE CROWDS

UHURU KENYATTA comes to storytellers’ aid /// IN SUMMARY @ SATURDAY NATION/// • International cast takes part in annual ‘Sigana’ festival as performers tell tall tales on stage/// Every year, the Sigana International Storytelling Festival gets bigger, better and more global in its perspective and presentation. /// In its fifth configuration, staged at the Kenya Cultural Centre’s Ukumbi Mdogo last weekend, that assessment, made by Kimani wa Wanjiru, chairman of the Kenya chapter of the Arterial Network, was powerfully confirmed. Serving as guest of honour on the opening night of this year’s fete, Kimani has been a fan of the festival from the outset when KCC managing director, Aghan Odero, launched it years ago as a project of Aghan’s cultural group, Zamaleo ACT. Reiterating what one of the international storytellers, Kristin Pedemonte, had just said on stage, Kimani also noted that “Everyone has a story; it is just a matter of finding the best way to tell it.” This year, those who found the ‘best way’ to tell a whole range of people’s amazing stories included both Kenyan and international storytellers who had come from Denmark, Romania, USA and even Britain. The beauty of each story was the intimate and animated way that each one was told. What’s more, some stories were traditional folk tales with a moral and a message, like Marianne Christensen’s Scandinavian story about the woodcutter, the money lender and the king. Others were true stories like Ogutu Muraya’s graphically told story of Warutere, the rickshaw driver and Mau Mau detainee who was jailed, tortured and locked up for 13 years, his main ‘offence’ being to use a ‘For Whites Only’ toilet. And other stories were based on personal experience, like Kristin Pedemonti’s heart-warming tale of the Free Hugs movement. There was even one traditional fairy tale of Cinderella, which got twisted, turned upside down and retold by Newton Kweya in an outrageously witty style that literally kept the almost-full house crowd in stitches. Kweya, like several other Zamaleo Sigana storytellers, including Hellen Alumbe Namai and Wangari Grace, gave hilarious ‘gender-bending’ performances wherein women took on roles of men and vice-versa. Yet it was obvious that a great deal of effort had gone into the choreography and stylisation of every tale. That was largely due to the diligent direction of Alumbe, who is so good at setting her audience at ease that her interactive style of performing elicits swift responses from the public, most of whom left the theatre with a gracious feeling that we all have stories to tell and are worthy to tell them. The other vital component of the Festival was the music, which was all made with indigenous instruments, everything from traditional Kenyan flutes, horns, drums, shakers and various string instruments, including the nyatiti. Opening the festival with powerful percussive tunes, the band also lent background accompaniment — and sound effects — to each of the stories without being intrusive or overpowering A stunning revelation Alumbe shared at the festival opening was the news that President Kenyatta had donated funds for accommodating, feeding and locally transporting the international guests. “We had simply put a request for assistance on our Facebook page,” Aghan said. “Uhuru’s people called us and offered to help out, and for this we are most grateful.” DN2|Sports Magazine|Smart Company|Living|Money|Saturday Magazine|Lifestyle|Buzz|Zuqka|Weekend | WEEKEND Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid IN SUMMARY • International cast takes part in annual ‘Sigana’ festival as performers tell tall tales on stage Every year, the Sigana International Storytelling Festival gets bigger, better and more global in its perspective and presentation. In its fifth configuration, staged at the Kenya Cultural Centre’s Ukumbi Mdogo last weekend, that assessment, made by Kimani wa Wanjiru, chairman of the Kenya chapter of the Arterial Network, was powerfully confirmed. Serving as guest of honour on the opening night of this year’s fete, Kimani has been a fan of the festival from the outset when KCC managing director, Aghan Odero, launched it years ago as a project of Aghan’s cultural group, Zamaleo ACT. Reiterating what one of the international storytellers, Kristin Pedemonte, had just said on stage, Kimani also noted that “Everyone has a story; it is just a matter of finding the best way to tell it.” This year, those who found the ‘best way’ to tell a whole range of people’s amazing stories included both Kenyan and international storytellers who had come from Denmark, Romania, USA and even Britain. The beauty of each story was the intimate and animated way that each one was told. What’s more, some stories were traditional folk tales with a moral and a message, like Marianne Christensen’s Scandinavian story about the woodcutter, the money lender and the king. Others were true stories like Ogutu Muraya’s graphically told story of Warutere, the rickshaw driver and Mau Mau detainee who was jailed, tortured and locked up for 13 years, his main ‘offence’ being to use a ‘For Whites Only’ toilet. And other stories were based on personal experience, like Kristin Pedemonti’s heart-warming tale of the Free Hugs movement. There was even one traditional fairy tale of Cinderella, which got twisted, turned upside down and retold by Newton Kweya in an outrageously witty style that literally kept the almost-full house crowd in stitches. Kweya, like several other Zamaleo Sigana storytellers, including Hellen Alumbe Namai and Wangari Grace, gave hilarious ‘gender-bending’ performances wherein women took on roles of men and vice-versa. Yet it was obvious that a great deal of effort had gone into the choreography and stylisation of every tale. That was largely due to the diligent direction of Alumbe, who is so good at setting her audience at ease that her interactive style of performing elicits swift responses from the public, most of whom left the theatre with a gracious feeling that we all have stories to tell and are worthy to tell them. The other vital component of the Festival was the music, which was all made with indigenous instruments, everything from traditional Kenyan flutes, horns, drums, shakers and various string instruments, including the nyatiti. Opening the festival with powerful percussive tunes, the band also lent background accompaniment — and sound effects — to each of the stories without being intrusive or overpowering A stunning revelation Alumbe shared at the festival opening was the news that President Kenyatta had donated funds for accommodating, feeding and locally transporting the international guests. “We had simply put a request for assistance on our Facebook page,” Aghan said. “Uhuru’s people called us and offered to help out, and for this we are most grateful.” HOME Weekend Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid In Summary •International cast takes part in annual ‘Sigana’ festival as performers tell tall tales on stage Every year, the Sigana International Storytelling Festival gets bigger, better and more global in its perspective and presentation. In its fifth configuration, staged at the Kenya Cultural Centre’s Ukumbi Mdogo last weekend, that assessment, made by Kimani wa Wanjiru, chairman of the Kenya chapter of the Arterial Network, was powerfully confirmed. Serving as guest of honour on the opening night of this year’s fete, Kimani has been a fan of the festival from the outset when KCC managing director, Aghan Odero, launched it years ago as a project of Aghan’s cultural group, Zamaleo ACT. Reiterating what one of the international storytellers, Kristin Pedemonte, had just said on stage, Kimani also noted that “Everyone has a story; it is just a matter of finding the best way to tell it.” This year, those who found the ‘best way’ to tell a whole range of people’s amazing stories included both Kenyan and international storytellers who had come from Denmark, Romania, USA and even Britain. The beauty of each story was the intimate and animated way that each one was told. What’s more, some stories were traditional folk tales with a moral and a message, like Marianne Christensen’s Scandinavian story about the woodcutter, the money lender and the king. Others were true stories like Ogutu Muraya’s graphically told story of Warutere, the rickshaw driver and Mau Mau detainee who was jailed, tortured and locked up for 13 years, his main ‘offence’ being to use a ‘For Whites Only’ toilet. And other stories were based on personal experience, like Kristin Pedemonti’s heart-warming tale of the Free Hugs movement. There was even one traditional fairy tale of Cinderella, which got twisted, turned upside down and retold by Newton Kweya in an outrageously witty style that literally kept the almost-full house crowd in stitches. Kweya, like several other Zamaleo Sigana storytellers, including Hellen Alumbe Namai and Wangari Grace, gave hilarious ‘gender-bending’ performances wherein women took on roles of men and vice-versa. Yet it was obvious that a great deal of effort had gone into the choreography and stylisation of every tale. That was largely due to the diligent direction of Alumbe, who is so good at setting her audience at ease that her interactive style of performing elicits swift responses from the public, most of whom left the theatre with a gracious feeling that we all have stories to tell and are worthy to tell them. The other vital component of the Festival was the music, which was all made with indigenous instruments, everything from traditional Kenyan flutes, horns, drums, shakers and various string instruments, including the nyatiti. Opening the festival with powerful percussive tunes, the band also lent background accompaniment — and sound effects — to each of the stories without being intrusive or overpowering A stunning revelation Alumbe shared at the festival opening was the news that President Kenyatta had donated funds for accommodating, feeding and locally transporting the international guests. “We had simply put a request for assistance on our Facebook page,” Aghan said. “Uhuru’s people called us and offered to help out, and for this we are most grateful.” Back to Daily Nation: Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid Advertisement Pope Francis blesses the Olympic flag ahead of the Rio 2016 Summer Games, as Rio de Janeiro's Mayor Eduardo Paes (3-R) and as Rio's Governor Sergio Cabral (R) look on, at the City Palace in Rio de Janeiro where he will also receive the keys of the city, on July 25, 2013. The first Latin American and Jesuit pontiff arrived in Brazil mainly for the huge five-day Catholic gathering World Youth Day. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS Officers from Central police station inspect the recovered explosives that were found packed in a Chania bus at it's TSS Petrol Station along River Road, Nairobi, that was en-route to Mombasa on July 24, 2013. PHOTO/DENISH OCHIENG Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge' new-born baby boy seen in a car seat outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London on July 23, 2013. AFP HOME HOME Weekend Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid In Summary •International cast takes part in annual ‘Sigana’ festival as performers tell tall tales on stage Every year, the Sigana International Storytelling Festival gets bigger, better and more global in its perspective and presentation. In its fifth configuration, staged at the Kenya Cultural Centre’s Ukumbi Mdogo last weekend, that assessment, made by Kimani wa Wanjiru, chairman of the Kenya chapter of the Arterial Network, was powerfully confirmed. Serving as guest of honour on the opening night of this year’s fete, Kimani has been a fan of the festival from the outset when KCC managing director, Aghan Odero, launched it years ago as a project of Aghan’s cultural group, Zamaleo ACT. Reiterating what one of the international storytellers, Kristin Pedemonte, had just said on stage, Kimani also noted that “Everyone has a story; it is just a matter of finding the best way to tell it.” This year, those who found the ‘best way’ to tell a whole range of people’s amazing stories included both Kenyan and international storytellers who had come from Denmark, Romania, USA and even Britain. The beauty of each story was the intimate and animated way that each one was told. What’s more, some stories were traditional folk tales with a moral and a message, like Marianne Christensen’s Scandinavian story about the woodcutter, the money lender and the king. Others were true stories like Ogutu Muraya’s graphically told story of Warutere, the rickshaw driver and Mau Mau detainee who was jailed, tortured and locked up for 13 years, his main ‘offence’ being to use a ‘For Whites Only’ toilet. And other stories were based on personal experience, like Kristin Pedemonti’s heart-warming tale of the Free Hugs movement. There was even one traditional fairy tale of Cinderella, which got twisted, turned upside down and retold by Newton Kweya in an outrageously witty style that literally kept the almost-full house crowd in stitches. Kweya, like several other Zamaleo Sigana storytellers, including Hellen Alumbe Namai and Wangari Grace, gave hilarious ‘gender-bending’ performances wherein women took on roles of men and vice-versa. Yet it was obvious that a great deal of effort had gone into the choreography and stylisation of every tale. That was largely due to the diligent direction of Alumbe, who is so good at setting her audience at ease that her interactive style of performing elicits swift responses from the public, most of whom left the theatre with a gracious feeling that we all have stories to tell and are worthy to tell them. The other vital component of the Festival was the music, which was all made with indigenous instruments, everything from traditional Kenyan flutes, horns, drums, shakers and various string instruments, including the nyatiti. Opening the festival with powerful percussive tunes, the band also lent background accompaniment — and sound effects — to each of the stories without being intrusive or overpowering A stunning revelation Alumbe shared at the festival opening was the news that President Kenyatta had donated funds for accommodating, feeding and locally transporting the international guests. “We had simply put a request for assistance on our Facebook page,” Aghan said. “Uhuru’s people called us and offered to help out, and for this we are most grateful.” Back to Daily Nation: Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid Advertisement Pope Francis blesses the Olympic flag ahead of the Rio 2016 Summer Games, as Rio de Janeiro's Mayor Eduardo Paes (3-R) and as Rio's Governor Sergio Cabral (R) look on, at the City Palace in Rio de Janeiro where he will also receive the keys of the city, on July 25, 2013. The first Latin American and Jesuit pontiff arrived in Brazil mainly for the huge five-day Catholic gathering World Youth Day. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS Officers from Central police station inspect the recovered explosives that were found packed in a Chania bus at it's TSS Petrol Station along River Road, Nairobi, that was en-route to Mombasa on July 24, 2013. PHOTO/DENISH OCHIENG Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge' new-born baby boy seen in a car seat outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London on July 23, 2013. AFP HOME HOME Weekend Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid In Summary •International cast takes part in annual ‘Sigana’ festival as performers tell tall tales on stage Every year, the Sigana International Storytelling Festival gets bigger, better and more global in its perspective and presentation. In its fifth configuration, staged at the Kenya Cultural Centre’s Ukumbi Mdogo last weekend, that assessment, made by Kimani wa Wanjiru, chairman of the Kenya chapter of the Arterial Network, was powerfully confirmed. Serving as guest of honour on the opening night of this year’s fete, Kimani has been a fan of the festival from the outset when KCC managing director, Aghan Odero, launched it years ago as a project of Aghan’s cultural group, Zamaleo ACT. Reiterating what one of the international storytellers, Kristin Pedemonte, had just said on stage, Kimani also noted that “Everyone has a story; it is just a matter of finding the best way to tell it.” This year, those who found the ‘best way’ to tell a whole range of people’s amazing stories included both Kenyan and international storytellers who had come from Denmark, Romania, USA and even Britain. The beauty of each story was the intimate and animated way that each one was told. What’s more, some stories were traditional folk tales with a moral and a message, like Marianne Christensen’s Scandinavian story about the woodcutter, the money lender and the king. Others were true stories like Ogutu Muraya’s graphically told story of Warutere, the rickshaw driver and Mau Mau detainee who was jailed, tortured and locked up for 13 years, his main ‘offence’ being to use a ‘For Whites Only’ toilet. And other stories were based on personal experience, like Kristin Pedemonti’s heart-warming tale of the Free Hugs movement. There was even one traditional fairy tale of Cinderella, which got twisted, turned upside down and retold by Newton Kweya in an outrageously witty style that literally kept the almost-full house crowd in stitches. Kweya, like several other Zamaleo Sigana storytellers, including Hellen Alumbe Namai and Wangari Grace, gave hilarious ‘gender-bending’ performances wherein women took on roles of men and vice-versa. Yet it was obvious that a great deal of effort had gone into the choreography and stylisation of every tale. That was largely due to the diligent direction of Alumbe, who is so good at setting her audience at ease that her interactive style of performing elicits swift responses from the public, most of whom left the theatre with a gracious feeling that we all have stories to tell and are worthy to tell them. The other vital component of the Festival was the music, which was all made with indigenous instruments, everything from traditional Kenyan flutes, horns, drums, shakers and various string instruments, including the nyatiti. Opening the festival with powerful percussive tunes, the band also lent background accompaniment — and sound effects — to each of the stories without being intrusive or overpowering A stunning revelation Alumbe shared at the festival opening was the news that President Kenyatta had donated funds for accommodating, feeding and locally transporting the international guests. “We had simply put a request for assistance on our Facebook page,” Aghan said. “Uhuru’s people called us and offered to help out, and for this we are most grateful.” Back to Daily Nation: Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid Advertisement Pope Francis blesses the Olympic flag ahead of the Rio 2016 Summer Games, as Rio de Janeiro's Mayor Eduardo Paes (3-R) and as Rio's Governor Sergio Cabral (R) look on, at the City Palace in Rio de Janeiro where he will also receive the keys of the city, on July 25, 2013. The first Latin American and Jesuit pontiff arrived in Brazil mainly for the huge five-day Catholic gathering World Youth Day. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS Officers from Central police station inspect the recovered explosives that were found packed in a Chania bus at it's TSS Petrol Station along River Road, Nairobi, that was en-route to Mombasa on July 24, 2013. PHOTO/DENISH OCHIENG Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge' new-born baby boy seen in a car seat outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London on July 23, 2013. AFP DN2|Sports Magazine|Smart Company|Living|Money|Saturday Magazine|Lifestyle|Buzz|Zuqka|Weekend | WEEKEND Uhuru comes to storytellers’ aid IN SUMMARY • International cast takes part in annual ‘Sigana’ festival as performers tell tall tales on stage Every year, the Sigana International Storytelling Festival gets bigger, better and more global in its perspective and presentation. In its fifth configuration, staged at the Kenya Cultural Centre’s Ukumbi Mdogo last weekend, that assessment, made by Kimani wa Wanjiru, chairman of the Kenya chapter of the Arterial Network, was powerfully confirmed. Serving as guest of honour on the opening night of this year’s fete, Kimani has been a fan of the festival from the outset when KCC managing director, Aghan Odero, launched it years ago as a project of Aghan’s cultural group, Zamaleo ACT. Reiterating what one of the international storytellers, Kristin Pedemonte, had just said on stage, Kimani also noted that “Everyone has a story; it is just a matter of finding the best way to tell it.” This year, those who found the ‘best way’ to tell a whole range of people’s amazing stories included both Kenyan and international storytellers who had come from Denmark, Romania, USA and even Britain. The beauty of each story was the intimate and animated way that each one was told. What’s more, some stories were traditional folk tales with a moral and a message, like Marianne Christensen’s Scandinavian story about the woodcutter, the money lender and the king. Others were true stories like Ogutu Muraya’s graphically told story of Warutere, the rickshaw driver and Mau Mau detainee who was jailed, tortured and locked up for 13 years, his main ‘offence’ being to use a ‘For Whites Only’ toilet. And other stories were based on personal experience, like Kristin Pedemonti’s heart-warming tale of the Free Hugs movement. There was even one traditional fairy tale of Cinderella, which got twisted, turned upside down and retold by Newton Kweya in an outrageously witty style that literally kept the almost-full house crowd in stitches. Kweya, like several other Zamaleo Sigana storytellers, including Hellen Alumbe Namai and Wangari Grace, gave hilarious ‘gender-bending’ performances wherein women took on roles of men and vice-versa. Yet it was obvious that a great deal of effort had gone into the choreography and stylisation of every tale. That was largely due to the diligent direction of Alumbe, who is so good at setting her audience at ease that her interactive style of performing elicits swift responses from the public, most of whom left the theatre with a gracious feeling that we all have stories to tell and are worthy to tell them. The other vital component of the Festival was the music, which was all made with indigenous instruments, everything from traditional Kenyan flutes, horns, drums, shakers and various string instruments, including the nyatiti. Opening the festival with powerful percussive tunes, the band also lent background accompaniment — and sound effects — to each of the stories without being intrusive or overpowering A stunning revelation Alumbe shared at the festival opening was the news that President Kenyatta had donated funds for accommodating, feeding and locally transporting the international guests. “We had simply put a request for assistance on our Facebook page,” Aghan said. “Uhuru’s people called us and offered to help out, and for this we are most grateful.”

MUMBI Kaigwa Triumphs with For Colored Girls at Phoenix Theatre

STUNNING SHOWCASE OF WOMEN CAST By Margaretta wa Gacheru. Published in Saturday Nation, July 27, 2013//// Performing to a house that was full to overflowing last Wednesday night, the Arts Canvas’ revival of the Ntozake Shange classic, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow was enuf, at Phoenix Theatre was a stunning reminder that the Black Power movement of the 1960s was not just a ‘passing cloud’ that resonated briefly among African Americans. The ensemble of seven Kenyan women who star in the award-winning ‘choreopoem’ under Mumbi Kaigwa’s insightful direction effectively embody the full range of emotions that originally propelled the poetic play all the way to Broadway in the USA. Ntozake Shange was only the second African American female playwright to reach that pinnacle of performance (after Lorraine Hansberry for A Raisin in the Sun). And undoubtedly part of the reason this intensely frank, funny and fiercely personal and painful account of women’s lives was such a success back then was because it speaks intimately to both women and men, transcending yet embracing the issue of race. The core of for colored girls is actually about gender, not just race. Shange was way ahead of her time in this regard as she wrote about relations between both female and male genders. Then as now, her play may make some people uncomfortable, as when her characters speak frankly and freely about such issues as rape and abortion, violence against women and children, and even prostitution. But these issues are very much alive in the Kenyan psyche today, so while some of the language may seem more strident than what we’re used to hearing from Kenyan women, it’s the energy, strength and spirit of women’s self awareness that makes the Arts Canvas production come alive so powerfully and poignantly. From the moment the seven women hit the stage, taking turns to tell women’s -- and men’s intensely personal stories, their spirit never lags. Alternating between the ensemble and the solos, the stories have both stunning shock value (as when the Lady in Yellow, Mkamzee Chao Mwatela, tells the tale of how she enjoyed the night she lost her virginity) and soulful sensitivity (as when the Lady in Brown, Muthoni Hunja, plays the precocious little girl who runs away from home with her imaginary friend Touissant L’Ouverture. The fact that Touissant was the revolutionary freedom fighter who liberated Haiti from the French back in the late 18th century exposes how implicitly political this ‘choeopoem’ (which is set to the music of guitar, flute and drums by Ricky Matthews Githinji, Sam Guchu Ngugi and Ngare Mukiria) really is. In fact, long before feminists like Kate Millet and Gloria Steinem adopted the slogan,’The personal is the political’, Shange had written for colored girls, dramatically, poetically and even choreographically illustrating that very point. One exceptional feature of this version of for colored girls – which was first staged at Phoenix back in 1987 including Mumbi Kaigwa and directed by her mentor, the Gambia-born thespian Janet Young – is the inclusion of Mumbi’s daughter, Mo Pearson, who is making her stage debut in this stunning show. Mo’s got a theatrical pedigree (as her dad, Keith Pearson, is also a long-time thespian); but it was this production that has given her the opportunity to prove that she, like her mum, is a theatrical force whose charisma is just as strong as her fellow cast members, Chao, Muthoni, Hana Kefela, Kawira Thambu and Eudiah Kamonjo (who stood in for Njeri Ngugi as the Lady in Purple. However, the climactic moment of the show belonged to Mumbi who gave the most heart-wrenching performance, telling the tragic tale of Crystal and Bo Willie Brown. The funniest had to be Kawira Thambu doing ‘I almost lost my stuff’ and the line that remains to ponder is one of the last, when the women chime, “I found God in myself and I loved Her.” Over all, for colored girls is a celebration of women coming into their own selfhood. It runs through August 3rd.

Europeans look to African art amid austerity - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Europeans look to African art amid austerity - Africa - Al Jazeera English