African Twist: The soundtrack of Kenya's independence

African Twist cast during the play at the Alliance Française in Nairobi on January 26, 2025. 

Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group

It happened in a series of four-day runs, twice on the weekend with all shows packed to the rafters and ending in ovations.

African Twist was more than just a play happening at the Alliance Française last weekend. It played a three-pronged role of being a musical writ, a historical script and a comical stage play that did not disappoint in any of these undertakings.

In this play, our main acts are three budding musicians Michael Mwangi who plays as Fundi Konde, Steve Ng’ang’a who plays as Grant Charo, Samson Omondi playing as Fadhili William and Ojwang Airo who plays as Daudi Kabaka.

The scenes are majorly set out in Kisilu’s bar where the pre-independence and post-independent Kenya is looked at through the lenses of the three musicians as they create the generational sound that is the backdrop of the 50s and 60s Kenyan musical identity.

Samson Omondi (Fadhili William) and Malkia during the African Twist play at the Alliance Française in Nairobi on January 26, 2025. 

Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group

Whereas it is an odyssey of the musical and political scene in that era, it also pays homage to Grant Charo, the original composer of the song Malaika that barely gets enough credit as pioneer of a golden era.

The play revolves around the love story of Fadhili William’s belle Malkia that has the attention of a mobster with financial and physical muscle and the blessings of Malkia’s father against a struggling musician that is trying to break even during the struggle for independence.

The background to the set was the 60s music by the main characters on stage and it played a large role in recreating a scene that was a poignant journey into the nostalgia of the past.

The costumes as well as a cast that could sing and perform live music on stage made the free entry look like daylight robbery. For the effort that it took to put this together it would be an injustice not to demand a rerun of the play.

Fadhili William played his role with gusto, holding his lead as a talented musician, love forlorn and boisterous in every sense of his presence on stage. Fundi Konde on the other hand played the role of gifted sidekick, consistent, dependent as well as entertaining.

Daudi Kabaka was stoic in his performance as the mastermind of the Twist style which the play gets its christening. Grant Charo’s role felt like a cameo appearance cut too shot, it was as invigorating as it lasted, but the evening for a large part belonged to Jack the drunk played by Brian Gaitan.

African Twist cast during the play at the Alliance Française in Nairobi on January 26, 2025. 

Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group

One would ask what role a drunk could possibly have in a charged historical musical, and I would say that he brought it to life. His humour was pinpoint precise and his blabber was a lifeline that always had the room in stitches.

A man of the bottle, Jack and his lagers were the typical wag, that had a lot of things to say at the wrong time but they were, sic, right in context.

The play is a theatrical narrative of the historical Equator Boys Band, previously known as the Jambo Boys Band, and also briefly told of their connections with the two Zambians, Nashil Pichen and Peter Tsotsi Juma, and Frida and Charles Sonko from Uganda and Charles Warrod.

The 1960s and 1970s were the shimmering cultural years of Nairobi's existence in terms music and African Twist is a sneak peak into how the music that shawled a newly birthed nation was formed.

Jambo Sigara, Malaika, Tausi are some of the songs you will hear on set and for many people, the play left a longing of an era long gone that can only be commemorated by a beautiful musical theatrical. Encore.

PAYE Tax Calculator

Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.