Celebration of life: Thespians, artists honour the legendary Margaretta

The Kenya National Theatre (KNT) midweek was filled to the rafters, both the auditorium and the gallery, as the who’s who of the theatre and arts scene came out last Wednesday evening to pay tribute and put on a memorial show for Margaretta wa Gacheru.

The KCC-NT Choir set off the proceedings of the evening; after which a 10-minute video tribute to Margaretta was shown to a raptly attentive audience.

Lisa Gacheru, her African American sister-in-law, paid a tearful, then glowing tribute to her “perfect mother-in-law.” Then came a second tribute set from the Kenya Theatre Awards’ Suki Wanza.

Incidentally, the KITFEST (Kenya International Theatre Festival)’s unveiling of the 2024 ‘Face of KITFEST’ (John Sibi-Okumu) was Margaretta’s last theatre visit in life, tellingly to the Kenya National Theatre three weeks ago, before the curtains came down for her.

In one of the many videos of her showing that celebration evening, Margaretta, the 2023 Face of KITFEST makes fun of her “green face” in the promotion, and also candidly says that “Kenya hasn’t yet gotten anywhere near international standard performance in theatre” but “we do have some world-class thespians in Kenya.”

One of them, Zippy Okoth, always dressed in riotous colours, but for once in a black dress, remembered how Margaretta always gave her words of encouragement. In tears, Dr Zippy recalled once sitting next to Margaretta’s wheelchair and saying: “I sit at the feet of a legend.” Quick as a flash, Margaretta quipped back: “A star sits at my feet.”

Then there was a visual arts video overview by the Banana Hill Art Gallery, one of Margaretta ’s pet projects, before the visual artist Shine Tani, then Maggie Otieno put more shine on the tan of Margaretta’s enduring legacy as a person who “not only wrote about us, and our work but asked after our wellbeing and our families.”

The Kenyan Arts Diary & Orature Collective were up next on stage with Niketa and Milena saying their piece, before veteran thespian Aghan Odero rounded that section up with the traditional Luo farewell cry to the Dear Departed, chanting ‘jowi, jowi, jowi’ after his tribute.

Margaretta was then resurrected on screen in a 15-minute interview video by the Kenyan Theatre Arts, where she again reiterated that one has to be passionate and dedicated to their craft, whatever it is, and give it time and do it as a labour of love, and not just for money.

It reminded me of the words of another late legend, the educator Geoffrey Griffin (who also passed away at age 75, in 2005): “There are too many people in this country, and the world, who go about their work grudgingly, looking upon their tasks as torments, seeking shortcuts (for shillings),” and I daresay this attitude, as GenZ has seen, is why we are in the doldrums.

The media, represented, by Lifestyle editor Diana Mwango, was up next. Diana amused the audience as she recounted a tale about how even when she recently called Margaretta at the hospital to find out how she was faring, Margaretta went on the defensive before she (Mwango) could utter a word, saying: “I am so sorry I haven’t yet handed in my article.”

She described Margaretta as a gem; meticulous, passionate, tenacious, kind and witty.

Read: Ode to Margaretta wa Gacheru: Artistes eulogise journalist as a careers-builder, mentor

Then the musician Liboi took to the stage and performed two melodious songs from her repertoire, before performing artiste Clare Wahome gratefully recalled how, in 2022, they threw Margaretta a surprise party (while she was still alive) to let her know how appreciated she was.

 Stuart Nash, the theatre director, gave one of the most touching tributes of the evening about Margaretta, including how she literally rolled in, whether on boda boda or wheelchair - to every show that he ever put on – and afterwards meticulously wrote every detail about it, including her observations and critique.

Margaretta née Swigert first came to Kenya as a Rotary Ambassador in 1974, so it was fitting that Nairobi Rotary Chair Ritesh Barot was there to remember her as the ‘one Rotarian who never missed a meeting (once she’d rejoined the club)’ including the virtual ones during the Covid-19 pandemic, as Korean American Rotarian Joan Sikund read a near Biblical tribute to wa Gacheru.

Wakio Mzenge then took to the stage for yet another good performance of the evening.

Then thespian Mshai Mwangola gave a poignant recollection, of how she just so happened to do her Master’s in the US in Margaretta’s hometown, literally hearing her yell ‘Sally, Sally’ as she sallied through the streets two decades or so ago.

“Once,” Dr Mwangola recalled, “Margaretta calls me on the phone and says: ‘I need your fat African hips.’ ‘What?’ Mshai said. ‘I have bought so many gifts for my people back in Kenya, and even after discarding my clothes, my suitcase won’t close,’ Margaretta said. ‘Come sit on it.’”

There was a Zoom-looking video, recorded by Prof Ngugi wa Thiong'o abroad, the legendary theatre playwright having been her supervisor back in the mid-1970s when Margaretta did her master's degree at the University of Nairobi.

Then the Alliance Francaise’s Harsita Waters recalled how perennially present Margaretta was at shows at the French Cultural Center (as well as the adjacent Goethe Institute, whose director Christina Nord was in attendance), with the Alliance Francaise’s Director giving a mystical nod to Margaretta, who died on the same day that his daughter was born (August 8, 2024) by saying: “I Hope baby Sophie will have some of wa Gacheru’s qualities, like her tireless devotion (to people and arts).”

As the evening drew to a close, poet Mufasa did a spoken word piece, before our KNT host Michael Pundo of the Kenya Cultural Center gave the penultimate speech, followed by a vote of thanks by Olwal Dickens, one of the key organisers of this ‘celebration of life’ commemoration.

Naturally, guests left (for the candlelit vigil outside) to the exuberant sounds of songs from Sarafina, the musical recently put on by Nairobi Performing Arts Studio to resounding success.

To end on a poetical note, as we did on the evening, “the curtain has come down on this class act, the set has changed, the Swigert swansong is sang, fact – there will never be another Margaretta.”

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