Category: Song

KigeziNdoto: A Hook for Dreams by Mũmbi Kaigwa

2019-03-07

In early 2005, I was invited to write a new script for performance at The Wereld Muziek Theatre Festival. In 2006 KigeziNdoto, the product of three-months writing and rehearsal, toured Holland, Belgium and Italy.

The show is a musical performance celebrating African heroes and providing an African perspective on Kenyan history.

KigeziNdoto: A Hook for Dreams is the second part of a trilogy, which includes The Voice of a Dream and They Call Me Wanjikũ. The performers examine the dreams of East Africans through music, dance and story, looking at pre- and post-colonial history and the lessons we can learn today from our past.

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They Call Me Wanjikũ by Mũmbi Kaigwa

2019-03-07

“THEY CALL ME WANJIKŨ”

This play is the third in my trilogy of plays about identity. The two previous plays are “The Voice of a Dream” and “KigeziNdoto: A Hook for Dreams.”

“They Call Me Wanjikũ” came to life after I tried to include my children in my Kenyan passport, and was informed I needed written permission from my husband.

My husband was a not a Kenya citizen. But that was okay; he is a man, and that fact apparently rushes him to the front of the queue regarding citizen’s rights and legal authority.

In case you’re wondering what they do when there’s no husband, fathers, or brothers (younger and older) are listed first in this permission-giving policy.

You can’t make this stuff up. It’s totally feudal.

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The Voice of a Dream by Mũmbi Kaigwa

2018-03-07

 

Documentary Theatre bears witness to a moment in time; a distillation of interviews that the playwright conducts and records for performance. The style ensures that the reality of the people and events described cannot be denied. They are actual people describing actual events as they saw and understood them.

This form has been made popular by such wonderful playwrights as Anna Deavere Smith (Twilight: Los Angeles 1990), Emily Mann (Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years, Greensboro, Still Life, Annulla: An Autobiography), Charlayne Woodard (Neat, Pretty Fire, In Real Life), Tammy Anderson (I Don’t Wanna Play House), Anna Yen and Lisa Kron (2.5 Minute Ride, Well).

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Our New Groove

2016-01-07

Kickn it old school

On Saturday 14 May 2016 we’re going to dance all night long. We’d love to see you there.

For details on this event, click on the image to enlarge.