Audiences treated to captivating presentations at varsities festival

University students continue to thrill audiences with captivating plays at the ongoing Kenya Universities Performing Arts Association (Kupaa) National Drama and Film Festival, which is taking place at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University in Siaya County.

One of the pieces that thrilled the audience on Wednesday was a Dholuo play by Egerton University titled “Momo Mawoyo”. Dr Lydia Abukutsa Mareri and Mr John Karanja directed the play, which falls under the indigenous category, and it received a standing ovation at the festival

The purpose of this category is to promote indigenous arts and practices and honour heroes and heroines of various communities.

"We want more African languages productions, said event secretary-general Patrick Ogutu.

The national Kupaa festivals will end on Sunday November 13, with winning items being presented at a gala performance whose chief guest will be Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu

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Thematic plays

Egerton’s “Momo Mawoyo” is about the son of a king who is deaf and dumb but has a unique talent in drawing which helps him communicate quite well.

He uses drawings to expose corruption in the community.

In one such instance, a company seeks to set up operation in the village and requires land to build a factory. But the king declines to give the company land belonging to the community.

The investor lures the king’s brother to cut a deal against the wishes of the king. But the king’s son, Mawoyo, using his drawings, exposes the mischief.  The name Mawoyo translates to a “dumb person who speaks”.

Egerton also staged a spoken word presentation on the girl child that aims at changing societal norms and beliefs that men do not suffer. It also highlights the problems faced by married men and men in general. The spoken word narrates the story of a man named Bonnie who suffers a lot in his marriage and even sustains severe injuries.

Cecilia Chebet and Margaret Atieno of Turkana University College presented a narrative titled “Kunglu Kangla”, which was scripted and directed by Mwiti Christopher and produced by Prof George Chemining'wa.

The narrative is about two very close friends who suddenly fall out, yet none of the two is willing to disclose the cause of their disagreement. It later emerged that the cause of the disagreement, which is metaphorically presented in the story as swapping of the SIM cards, is something shameful, embarrassing and illegal, hence the reluctance to disclose it.

Kenyatta University staged a play about a man called Nyamghodho who was deemed lazy and had not married yet. Soon, a beautiful woman from the lake comes to him and offers to marry him.

She gives him wealth but Nyamghodho soon forgets his humble beginnings and despises the woman by marrying others. He later loses everything after the woman returns to the lake.

Multimedia University of Kenya entertained the audience with well-crafted items, one of them being a narrative titled "Majimoni" and a modern dance, "Funeral in heaven".

Over 33 university are participating in fourth edition of the Kupaa drama and film festival, with over 300 stage items and a number of film, TV and radio broadcast items having been staged.

Beauty pageantry debut

The beauty pageantry and visual arts categories made their debut in this year’s festival, a major milestone for Kupaa.

Safaricom, National Syndemic Disease Control Council, Marie Stopes Kenya and the Kenya Dean of Students Association and Kenya Cultural Centre have sponsored the festival.

Thematically, the items presented at the festival touch on various societal issues such as politics, gender, religion and poverty.

Institutions participating in the festival include the host Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Moi University, Gretsa University, Kaimosi Friends University, Maseno University, Kenyatta University, Technical University of Mombasa, Murang’a University and Turkana University College.