Mombasa production house grows theatre tickets on loan

Two years ago Stephanie Maseki left Nairobi for Mombasa to start a production house together with her long-time friend Anthony Mbithi in a place where theatre and the arts was not everyone’s cup of tea.

With little resources but backed by experience in theatre Ms Maseki knew the road ahead was not an easy one but this did not dampen the duo’s desire to make Stan Savannah work.

They knew they had to do extensive research to find that which will appeal to the Mombasa audience.

“I have been involved in theatre most of my life so starting a production house was something that was in my to-do list. I chose Mombasa because I felt it offered a challenge compared to Nairobi where theatre is well advanced,” said Ms Maseki.

“Our major challenge was resources. Here we were in Mombasa, and the only theatre that was available was in a dilapidated state. We also had to think about costumes, tickets among other things,” she said.

Local firm

The duo approached a local firm Docu Care, which accepted to invest in their dream with the agreement that they will pay the money after their first show.

Zuena was the first play from their production house. It is a story about a young girl from a well-off family who meets a young man and falls in love not knowing that he is a drug lord and a member of a criminal gang.

The reception of the play was good as they managed to sell more than 200 tickets. However, they only collected Sh78,000 that was mostly used to pay the bills.

“After all the loans we had incurred for the endeavour we had hoped we would be able to make something like Sh100,000, then we would have been able to foot our bills,” said Mr Mbithi.

Stan Savannah has now become a household name at the coastla city, with numerous successful plays to its name.
So how was it that they were able to resuscitate theatre life in Mombasa? They say by being unique.

Daily struggle

All their plays are renditions of the daily struggle people go through in society.

“After we identify a problem in the society, we do extensive research on the topic before writing a script. We believe that when people get to see the problems through drama, it has more impact than just hearsay,” said Ms Maseki.

“For instance, the play Tattered is about a woman who leads a successful career but is physically abused in her marriage. A lot of people in the society can relate to it.”

To host a show for a 200-audience, they have to part with Sh250,000 to cater for props, costumes, payment of the hall, payment of the theatre and cast and marketing.

They say succeeding in theatre involves a lot of hard work, determination and dedication.

“I was working at an NGO before but had to resign because the amount of work and time I was putting in was too much,” said Mr Mbithi.

The future they say looks promising with their goal being to make Stan Savannah a production house that grows talent, entertains and has a global appeal since they have already conquered the local audience.

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