The Third edition of the Kenya International Theatre Festival(KITF) opens next week at Kenya National Theatre.
It has been organised by Kenyatta University and the founder of KITF, Kevin Kimani, a graduate student at the institution.
The
six-day festival, which runs from November 6, will feature theatre
troupes performing from all over the world, including Kenya.
On November 7-8, theatre practitioners and academics from Kenya and elsewhere will share ideas.
This
year’s theme is The Paradoxes of State Aid in the Growth of Theatre in
Kenya. It’s a topic that will be tackled initially by the Keynote
speaker, Dr Charles Kibaya of Southeastern University in Kitui.
There will also be presentations by thespians and academics from US, Egypt and Kenya.
The
Kenyans participating include thespians like Mueni Lundi of The
Performance Collective, Tash Mitambo of Renegade Ventures, Eliud Abuto
formerly with the Festival of Creative Arts, Keith Pearson of The
Theatre Company and George Orido.
The topics they will
discuss range from taking theatre to the people, unity among actors,
theatre and media, puppetry and running a successful theatre company.
Despite being a six-day affair, there will hardly be breathing space to take part in discussions but also attend the plays.
On
the Festival’s opening day alone, there will be six performances, one
by an Egyptian troupe, one by Rwandese, another by Ugandans and three by
Kenyans, one a collaboration with a Ugandan company, another a
‘collabo’ with an American university dramatising Muthoni Garland’s
book, Tracing the Scent of my Mother.
Every other day will feature just one play, either from Sweden, Rwanda, Uganda or Kenya.
But
on the weekend, there will be two performed on Saturday (one from South
Africa) and on Sunday, the festival’s closing day, there promises to be
five more productions, from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
So, theatre lovers need to leave their schedules open to attend as many new plays next week as possible.
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