Children take centre stage in packed holiday shows

Children play a vital role in two out of three of the productions running in Nairobi.

The one show, Consequences, was not in the least bit keen on kids; nor was its producer, Festival of Creative Arts concerned with spreading holiday cheer.

They were simply large on licentious laughs, which is why FCA excludes children entirely from even attending Consequences.

It’s a production that typically tickles the funny bone of local audiences who literally flooded Alliance Francaise last weekend, even after FCA producer Eliud Abuto added extra shows both Saturday and Sunday evenings so that if you stayed for the last one you couldn’t leave the theatre until way after 10pm.

But Kenyan audiences don’t mind seeing infidelity and the mocking of monogamy in marriage. Even when all four partners on stage are having salacious rendezvous with other men’s wives, nobody seems to find FCA’s scripts ‘shocking’, ‘immoral’ or even out of the ordinary.

Instead, the public eats up FCA shows. Their audience attendance must be record-breaking and even enviable to some other theatre troupes that wished they could attract comparable crowds. Consequences comes back due to popular demand on November 28.

What’s intriguing about the other two child-friendly shows is that they too attracted full-house crowds last weekend which must mean both theatre groups are doing something right.

For one thing they both have different target audiences: The Braeburn Players who staged the British pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk (which is always a holiday favourite among Brits) initially had a ready-made audience since a number of Braeburn School staffers are in the cast playing leading roles.

A number of Braeburn students are also in the chorus of the Christmas musical which is another crowd pleaser. At the end of the show, children in the audience are invited to sing along with cast members which the children clearly loved doing.

What is also a winning feature of the show is the way the adults intentionally over-act and obviously make fun of themselves.

For instance, the Dame who is played by a man (which is the tradition in pantomime) is much loved by children as she is always bumbling and making a fool of herself.

And the bad guys are beyond being ‘bad’ since everyone knows how the story ends — ‘happily ever after’ which is the nature of the fairy tale. So, children usually don’t get too scared of the villains.

And for those who do get scared, there’s always the comforting Big Brother character whose role is to listen to the children and respond with words of assurance.

Jack will be back again this weekend at Braeburn Theatre where if last weekend’s numbers are anything to go by, the players are likely to be performing once again to full house crowds.

Having beautifully painted stage backdrops and a live orchestra to get everyone involved, Braeburn has outdone themselves this year.

Nonetheless, it’s the young people of Hope Theatre Nairobi that gave the most amazing performances last weekend at Goethe Institut where the Austrian stage producer and stage designer Stephan Bruckmeier behaved like a proud father.

He conceived of Hope Theatre Nairobi while working several years back with slum children from Kariobangi, Korogocho and Kibera.

Abuses of water

“Initially, I thought I’d just train them for several months and then disappear,” said Bruckmeier who regularly returns to Europe for work. But in 2007, the children wouldn’t let him leave unless he promised to come back.

He was hooked after that and now returns regularly to Eastlands to work with his troupe of youth often accompanied by artistic European experts.

One such ‘expert’ is Judith Kunz, a German graduate student in Development Studies who scripted and staged the group’s current production Water! It’s a show that features assorted scenerios about the unfortunate misuses and abuses of water.

Raising social awareness about a critical topic like water while still appealing to youth and adults is an achievement that Bruckmeier sees as a group effort.

He has taken the Eastlanders to Europe to perform four times. In fact, the next time Water! will be staged will be in Germany and Austria starting next March.

And, tonight Phoenix Players will also cater to young people when they open in Steve Muturi’s latest version of Joy to the World: The Christmas Nativity 2014.

Anyone who had seen Muturi’s previous ‘nativities’ at Phoenix in 2000 and 2001 will recall how brilliant they were. I haven’t seen a preview of Joy, but assume the show will be grand and appeal to adults and children.