Stage set for battle of top performers in second edition of Kenya Theatre Awards

The second edition of the Kenya Theatre Awards (KTA) will take place on February 23 at the Kenya National Theatre in a red carpet event that is expected to be attended by the crème de la crème in the industry.

This year, 503 local shows will be battling it out for the top position in 32 categories and four special awards category.

The nominees were selected from 100 theatre companies and 170 productions that took place in 2022.

“As a member of the jury, I can say that this year’s nominees were held to an incredibly high standard. The quality of work produced in the Kenyan theatre industry in 2022 was truly outstanding, making the selection process incredibly difficult,” said Benson Ngobia, the chairperson of the 2021/22 Kenya Theatre Awards Jury.

“We were impressed by the level of creativity and skill displayed by all nominees and it is clear that the industry is thriving. We are excited to see the impact that these talented individuals and organisations will have in the coming years and I am honoured to have been a part of the process of recognising their achievements through the Kenya Theatre Awards.”

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The awards seek to celebrate talented actors, directors, writers, designers, and other theatre professionals for their outstanding performances and contributions to the industry.

“Nominees are analysed by a professional jury panel that watches all the performances throughout the year, and holds several review conferences to have a final shortlist.

“Voting was opened on January 25 and came to a close on the 15th of February. The voting happened exclusively online and was hosted on the KTA website. We had more than 7,000 theatre enthusiasts participate in the voting which produced over 70,000 votes distributed across the 32 categories. This public vote makes up 20 percent of the final tally, with the jury votes taking up a majority 80 percent,” Mr Ngobia added.