The Nigerian theatre now transcends the physical space to the virtual sphere manifesting as digital performances. Within this virtual space is an over lapping layer of mediatized performances which are reinforced in a number of ways. Interestingly, the performances accommodate overwhelming references to the female gender and there exists mis/communication of perceived bias and prejudices against women. This essay critically analyses some of these digital performances through the lenses of dig...
Keya Chakraborty (1942-1977) was one of the brightest stars in Bengali Theatre (during the 60s and 70s) who also was one of the very few women stalwarts in the performance space. Her sudden and untimely death while shooting a film was one of the most controversial events in the theatre circuit which attracted several eyeballs. She was the leading lady of Theatre Group, Nandikar founded by Ajitesh Bandopadhyay and appeared in some of their famous plays such as Tin Poisar Pala, Bhalomanus...
ABSTRACT This work examines gender portrayal in Edufa by Efua Theodora Sutherland and In the Chest of a Woman by Efo Kodjo Mawugbe both of whom are of blessed memory. It considers Sutherland as the mother of modern Ghanaian Drama and Mawugbe as an icon of Ghanaian Drama; assessing their contributions and achievements as playwrights and dramatists in Ghana. An in-depth analysis of the plays was carried out to ascertain the conflicts and messages imbedded in them. The study was based mainly on...
ABSTRACT Drugs and substance use in Kenya has reached crisis levels. Kiambu County has been especially cited as a hotspot for this catastrophe. Whereas different stakeholders have responded to this vice through legislative, legal and social methods, its persistence suggests a need to rethink the methods of mitigating this problem and their efficacy. This is precisely the justification for this study that examined the use of participatory film as an alternative tool for motivating social chan...
ABSTRACT This study focuses on the utilisation of dramatic elements in the delineation of human interaction in six plays of Francis Imbuga and John Ruganda. The study is motivated by the perceived lacuna in the body of knowledge on the utilization of dramatic elements in the rendering of this thematic concern in the selected plays of Imbuga and Ruganda. The study seeks to investigate the intersection between dramatic elements and the way relationships in the society are presented in the six s...
ABSTRACT The place of music in the Kenyan curriculum of education has for long not been assured as a result of curriculum review and changes. In order to understand how Kenya’s Curriculum Review Policies have impacted the stakeholders in the Public Primary Schools, this study examined the influence of Kenyan education policy and commissions of inquiry into the education system on the attitude /perception on the teaching and learning of Music as a subject in public primary schools in Kenya. ...
ABSTRACT Violent conflict in Jos North, Plateau State, Nigeria, like other parts of the world, has become a serious concern creating a rift in human relations. This study therefore seeks to explore, in Theatre for Development (TFD), the techniques of Boal’s Forum Theatre (FT) in bringing about peaceful resolution in Jos, Plateau State. The study explores the philosophical thrust of forum theatre to improve on the existing process of utilizing the challenges and strategies of FT for sus...
ABSTRACT The Kenya National Catholic Youth Drama and Music festival is an annual festival whose idea was mooted in the year 2000 by the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is an event whose theme is derived from the Pope's message to the youth and then customized to fit the Kenyan situation. The main purpose of this event is to motivate the young people into the work of evangelization using their creativity. Cognizant of the fact that young people are the majority in every congregation, ...
ABSTRACT Research has identified poor quality and unprofessionalism as factors that limit the appeal of Kenyan video films (Kenya Film Commission, Audience Consumer Trends Survey, 2010). This study investigates the problems that Kenyan films face in trying to “break down the wall preventing Kenyan films from being shown and celebrated beyond Kenyan borders” (Justine Edwards, 2008, p. 2). It does this through an analysis of three video fiction films by three local filmmakers: Wandahuhu�...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this project was to investigate musical idiomatic expressions in the performance of African art songs in Nairobi. The interest of the study came up after a voice recital was presented, and a variety of African and Western art songs were performed, but there was no clear distinction between the performance of the African and Western art songs. A cross section of the audience was in essence left wondering what could then define performance practice of an African art son...
ABSTRACT This study investigates the substance and structure of animation films in Kenya. Specifically it focuses on thematic analysis of Kenyan animation films narratives representations through artistic styles, using techniques like mise-en-scene, montage, narrative styles, non-diegesis, and diegesis. The analysis focused on communicative artistic form and dominant themes of social, political and cultural issues addressed by Kenyan animators, writers, and producers. The analysis of animati...
ABSTRACT Musicians in many African traditional communities have been regarded as important resource persons because of the role they play in entertaining their communities. Seemingly times are changing, and the role of the musician, the Litungu player (Omukhupetungu) in this case, is gradually losing value. The study therefore sought to carry out an ethnographic study on the Omukhupetungu with a focus on ascertaining the significance of his role in the Bukusu community. A study on the role o...
ABSTRACT Aesthetic creativity in the manipulation of technical elements of image and sound in a film lies at the heart of storytelling in cinema. As such, it is the aim of this study to interrogate critically how the film story is exposed, advanced, and narrated by non-verbal elements of sound design, namely film score, sound effects, ambience and silence, and how that can therefore be translated into intrinsic narrative characteristics of non-verbal sounds in film. Anchored on structuralism ...
v ABSTRACT The study interrogates the invention and (re)configuration of space as a social construct in Kenyan television drama. While focusing on selected local television dramas; Mheshimiwa, Mother-in-law and Tabasamu, the study examines manifestations of space, and how characters contest, and (re)configure emergent spaces in the contemporary society. The first television drama aired on Kenya Television Network (KTN) whereas the second and third air on Citizen Television. The study investig...
ABSTRACT Utilizing Kenya Schools and Colleges’ Drama Festival theatre space, this study investigates the use of theatre as a strategy for healing and reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict. On the assumption that plays performed at the festival are mimetic of real life, this study purposivelysampled four plays performed between 2008 and 2010 in relation to calls for healing and reconciliation following Kenya’s 2007/2008 post-election violence. The performance-texts are Messiah (2008)...