What made top performers tick at film, drama fete
Kinango Deaf School won with their Kenya Sign Language play during the drama and film festival at Shimo la Tewa.
Credible storylines, graceful acting and reasonable resolutions won the hearts of the adjudicators in this year’s Kenya National Drama and Film Festival in Mombasa.
A play by Bungoma County’s Friends School Kamusinga titled The Walls of Jericho is among the biggest upsets at the festival after it was ranked among the best and will be performed during the Gala Performances today.
Their main strength lies in the delivery of their story. Simple and to the point without ‘over acting’ as witnessed in many productions.
Riara Springs Girls High School’s well-scripted play — performed yesterday — also qualified for the Gala Performances. Kakamega High School had a creative cultural dance.
The other winners are Matuga Girls who performed extremely well and qualified for the gala. The winners will be hosted by President William Ruto at State House Mombasa.
Other performances yesterday included by Mother of Apostles (cultural dance), St Angela (SNE dance), and Ramola secondary (comedy).
Vulueni secondary won in the spoken word category, Bunyore Girls (French play), Laiser Hill (Modern dance), Boma Boys (narrative) and Joy Town (SNE dance).
On day two of the gala, some of the items lined up include a cultural dance from Matuga Girls, Kahunguini Boys (Modern dance), Onjiko Boys (Spoken word) and Kabare Girls (narrative). Mount Kenya University Thika will stage their Oral narrative titled Nagawa during the Gala Performances.
The story seeks to address the dangers of identity theft on social media where a man seeking love and a wife is duped on a social media platform by a man pretending to be a woman and ready for marriage.
On the last day of the festival, Ngwata Primary School presented a cultural creative dance that touched the souls of the audience, leaving them to re-examine how they go about hiring house helps to take care of their young ones.
The dance, Nkatha, presented in Kimeru explores the dangers that lurk when parents employ house helps without thoroughly vetting them.
At one stage the dance took a huge toll on the audience, with some seen removing their handkerchiefs from their pockets and wiping away tears and sweat.
The play is produced by Faith Maeke.
Ngwata Primary is from Athi River in Machakos County , Eastern region.
Fountain Academy from Rift Valley region presented a soul-searching play The Cross of Rose, in which the divorce of Rose’s parents affected her a lot to the extent of missing out on the Journalism Club tour organised by her school.
Muhoroni Furaha Primary School pupils celebrate after winning awards during the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival at Shimo La Tewa High School on April 26, 2023.
Rose was traumatised by her parent’s separation that she went to the streets. There was a happy ending when Rose was rescued by a charitable organisation and given good education. Her parents also had to come together for her sake.
Saints Education School from Western region presented an animated play Caught in the Web, which captures the essence of today’s digital age. The play was well-received by the audience, most of whom were fellow pupils.
The play explores some causes of social ills and parental negligence. The play is produced by Ouma Thomas.
Karima Girls from Central region also presented a gripping horror play.
The play’s leading actress is a ruthless mistress who at one point plucked off the eyes of her daughter’s fiancé in a bid to prevent him from marrying her daughter.
There was a happy ending when they used modern technology to restore the man’ eyes.
Kericho TTC took the audience by storm with their thrilling play titled The Secrets for Salem.
The play, scripted by Fanuel Mulwa, creatively addresses the issue of justice and mental health.
Captain Salem is accused of having killed his superior, Major-General Makasi. It is through video footage that was captured on CCTV that the truth is revealed. The killer turns out to be the court prosecutor!
The play was directed by Fanuel Mulwa, Ngeno Geoffrey, Victor Achesa and Foy Ongaya. It was produced by Elda Achungo, the chief principal.
KMTC Nakuru moved the audience with a play titled The Confession at Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hall Mombasa. In the play, the son engages in a love affair with his step-sister.
‘Life Inferno’
Kisii National Polytechnic presented a modern dance titled Life Inferno scripted by Stella Atuti and Brian Obaga.
A graduate considers emigration in search of greener pastures in the Gulf, only for a series of struggles and life challenges to haunt him. She faces brutality and life-threatening conditions in the foreign land.
The dance depicts the struggles faced by young and uninformed expatriates who venture into new lives abroad oblivious of the harsh conditions and cultural differences.
