Category Archives: Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium)

Ibsen Through the Eyes of Strathmore

(This critique appeared in The EastAfrican March 7-13 under the title Treachery and deciet behind the façade) THE heavy sound of a door being slammed is heard from below. These are the last words in the last scene of Ibsen’s … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Drama, Henrik Ibsen, Nick Muthama, Nickson Walubengo, Strathmore University Drama Society

Kenya’s Heart Stringed by Comedy

(This article appeared in the East African November 8-14, 2010 under the title Comedy Rules Kenyan Scene) The most successful form of drama in Kenya, in terms of mass appeal is undoubtedly comedy and its development is most probably a … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Dan Ndambuki, Drama, Heartstrings Ensemble, Victor Ber & Samwel Mwangi

Strathmore On the Wilde Side

(This review appeared in The East African October 11-17 2010) Russian director Vesvold Meyerhold described himself as the ‘author of the spectacle’, which is fitting because, while the playwright uses words to communicate his ideas, the director uses stage action. … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Drama, Nick Muthama, Oscar Wilde, Sheila Mukami, Strathmore University Drama Society

Once Upon A Time…

(A version of this review appears in the East African July 19-25 under the title: Under the Spell of a Fairy Tale) There was a lady who once told me a story about how her husband, against her warning, went … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Dance, Storytelling

Strathmore Takes On Chekhov

(A version of this critique appeared in the East African 14th -20th June 2010) THE relative success of their production of Gogol’s The Government Inspector last year, seems to have spurred the Strathmore University Drama Society to take the bold … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Anton Chekhov, Benjamin Kamicha, Drama, Evans Wanyama, Nick Muthama, Sheila Mukami, Strathmore University Drama Society

Practice Makes Perfect

Last month, 12th March to be precise, I watched No More Sex Please by Ellis Otieno at Alliance Française and I was quite please to see yet again, an original Kenyan script being played to a full house (silencing the … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Drama, Ellis Otieno, Ellis Otieno, Sam Psenjen, The Friends Ensemble

Our Quest For That Elusive Identity

  (A version of this review appeared in the Sunday Nation on 17th May 2009) KigeziNdoto & Githaa, a musical performance created by Mumbi Kaigwa was staged at the French Cultural centre on 6th and 7th May. This musical performance … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Dance, Drama, Mumbi kaigwa, The Theatre Company

From Russia But Fits Like a Glove

(A version of this review appeared in the Sunday Nation on 26th April 2009) Nikolai Gogol’s The Inspector General (also known as The Government Inspector or Revisor) closed at the French Cultural Centre on 19th April 2009, 173 years to … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Benjamin Kamicha, Drama, Evans Wanyama, Nick Muthama, Nikolai Gogol, Strathmore University Drama Society

Long Gone University Days

(This review appeared in the Sunday Nation on 5th April 2009) It is an interesting coincidence that while Kenyatta University students ran amuck on Sunday 29th March, The Night Before by Nigerian playwright Bode Sowande was showing at the French … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Andrew Muthure, Bode Sowade, Drama, Moturi Kebaya, Sam Psenjen, Undone Theatre Projects

Heartstrings Didn’t Really String It

(This review appeared in the Sunday Nation on 29th March 2009) Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966), a theatre practitioner of the Symbolism movement and therefore one totally opposed to realism, was of the firm conviction that the ‘true artist of theatre’ … Continue reading

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Filed under Alliance Française (Anne Spoerry Auditorium), Dan Ndambuki, Drama, Heartstrings Ensemble, Victor Ber & Samwel Mwangi