Thespian Amadi Atsiaya speaks to ArtMatters.Info in Nairobi about his belief in theatre for social transformation

A three-week project aimed at equipping performers at funerals with theatre skills began at Vihiga High School, Maragoli, on December 7, 2005.

The initiator of the project, thespian Amadi Atsiaya, says this is in line with his ‘belief in theatre for social transformation’. Perhaps nothing annoys a grieving community more than gate-crashers who mourn their dead, passionately, emotionally and, perhaps most importantly, dramatically, tickling rays of happiness through this sorrowful dark moment. Some funeral performers in western Kenya come with their bodies painted in various colours of the earth, covered in leaves or tree branches, rags, beating drums, shaking jingles, and blowing horns.

These mourners wail, sing, chant, dance, and engage in mock fights, composing songs on the spot, and praising the deceased in a way that close family members are tempted to believe the mourners know the dead more than they. In Maragoli, for instance, these people locally known as 'Gada' or 'Avalivayo’ comprising young people, stage organised performances for the mourners. These are teams that are immensely talented and energetic, and often leave you in stitches, momentarily exhilarated, educated and entertained. And if you thought that their aim was your food or handouts, you missed the trick. But ultimately, theirs is an accumulated wealth of talent and time, with no alternative channels to showcase it. When the funeral is over, they fade back to the woods, from where they had come, until another person died and they emerge again!

According to Atsiaya, a Nairobi-based thespian formerly with Zamaleo Act, such people are often viewed negatively “once their usefulness at the funerals is over.” “Although this may often not be the case, these are the same boys who are seen as bhang smokers, local brew drunkards and banana and sugarcane thieves,” says Atsiaya. Having grown up in the village with some of these people, Atsiaya believes that such perceptions are triggered by the lack of activity for young people in the villages, with most people always suspicious of “what such energetic people do when they are not performing at funerals.” Even the local administrators do not spare them. When there is any criminal act, village headmen, assistant chiefs and chiefs are quick to point a finger at them. Churches, that should give them solace, also view these performers as worshippers of a false god who should be reformed.

“This perception,” argues Atsiaya, “instills in them the urge to comply. That is why they end up being just who we see them to be: troublemakers, petty thieves and useless funeral actors.” But could there be any other way of looking at these people who ‘sniff around about funerals’? Atsiaya says there is. Using his own artistic experience, he believes these groups can be transformed into professional performers that earn a living and respect from their sweat. “I would like to encourage them to regard theirs as a talent that could be tapped to give them their daily bread instead of having to depend on stolen corn. If for once they drummed and got paid for it, I think their perception of themselves and what they do will be transformed,” he says.

Out of this conviction, Atsiaya is running a pilot project with these village mourners in his Maragoli backyard to try and harness the homegrown talent and showcase it to people at various fora in and outside Maragoli. Supported by The Theatre Company, a Dutch group that supports creative cultural activities in various parts of the world, the project is anticipated to roll out to other parts of western Kenya and Tanzanian villages. Spending about 4000 Euros on the initial stage, eight young people drawn from the ‘mourning groups’ from Vihiga villages who are mainly singers and drummers with three thespians from Kisumu town, went through the training in theatre arts at Vihiga High School.

The thespians from Kisumu, Atsiaya had explained ahead of the training, are meant to empower the villagers and introduce them to acting, adding that “this would help them blend songs, instruments and be conscious of stage skills.” Atsiaya, who is working with Theatre Embassy of Frey Hooft Van Huydsyune, a theatre skills trainer, and Dilys De Jong, a video photographer, in implementing the Theatre Company-funded project, says the Vihiga youth “are young men with immense talent in singing, playing drums and jingles who also compose creative songs on the spot; they have lots of stamina yet few applaud them”. After the training the group will hold a series of performances around Maragoli to hone the acquired skills before going out for professional performances around Kenya and Tanzania.

“It is my conviction that if for once they are put on a stage where they will be performing at day time, on a stage where people shall applaud them and see them as stars and not the petty felons they are known to be, then I will have contributed positively to their development and transformation,” Atsiaya said. Saying that these youth don’t get invitation for performances because of their bad image, the people in the project intend to improve this image and open up a market for these people at special events. This would also demystify and decentralise artistic performances from urban centres—mainly Nairobi--as has been the case with virtually all theatre artists and groups concentrated in Nairobi.

For instance, it takes players from Nairobi and Kisumu to perform literature set books for schools all over the country. Such groups can only reach a limited number of schools ahead of the national examinations. This leaves out rural schools which are equally examined on the same set books. Yet these are the schools that have students with limited access to the books and therefore need visual aid. “Why should groups from Nairobi have to go to a village in Vihiga to perform a school text book when village-based ones could do it at an affordable rate?” poses Atsiaya, holder of a master’s degree in Swahili literature and linguistics from the University of Nairobi.

Amadi kwa Atsiaya performs with Zamaleo Act in 2002

Founder member of the Zamaleo Act Sigana storytellers led by Aghan Odero, Atsiaya has little doubt his young protégés will succeed in the art and business of theatre. “I will see if these young men—aged 18-35 years--can organise themselves into a group and if they can find market for themselves in western Kenya,” he says, adding they are usually not invited performances because of their bad name. “I want to see them earn a name and invited to special events as they have a unique drumming skill that can take them places. The various groups are differentiated by drum beats,” he says.

"I recognise art when I see it. I want to do a lot with rural folks. If all goes as per plan, I could form a group to work in villages. Why should groups from Nairobi have to go to the village in Vihiga to perform a school textbook when village-based ones could do it better?” By focusing on grassroots theatre groups, Atsiaya says, he will give villagers alternative forms of entertainment and perhaps attract tourists to the performances. With vibrant performance groups at the village level, societies are likely to be better informed, entertained and opened up socially to the outer world. Such interactions would not only enlighten the village folk, but will also bring income to the people, judging by the fact that some people earn their living entirely from stage performances in Nairobi, and that this would attract domestic as well as international tourists to the villages. It is also expected that this would curb village menaces associated with idleness.

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