A Letter From Samuel Kivuitu

May 30, 2008

Kenyan poet extraordinaire, Shailja Patel, has elicited a response to a letter she slipped to ECK comissioner, Samuel Kivuitu, during a talk he gave in Nairobi on May 14. In her own words…:

At the beginning of this year, I wrote an Open Letter to Samuel Kivuitu, Chair of the Electoral Commission of Kenya. It was picked up by a number of sources, online and off, within and outside Kenya, and widely distributed, forwarded, and republished.
http://shailja.com/news/newsletterblog/2008/01/open-letter-to-samuel-kivuitu.html

On May 14th, Samuel Kivuitu spoke, for the first time since “The Crisis”, at a forum on Post-Election Violence in Nairobi. I arrived early at the venue, and slipped a paper copy of my Open Letter under the blotter where he was going to sit. I’d abridged and updated the letter to reflect our current Kenyan reality. It ends with a plea: Read more

Written by Kwani · Filed Under Features

“Stories Spoken” - live performance

May 29, 2008

Kwani Trust and Goethe Institut Nairobi

present:

STORIES SPOKEN

“Stories spoken” is the culmination of the workshop, “Establishing reading stages.” Participants will share their work with a live audience.

Special Guests:

Falco Hennig & Mshai Mwangola

7th June

4.00 – 5.30pm

Goethe – Institut (Nairobi CBD)

Free Entry

Written by Kwani · Filed Under Inside Kwani, Kwani Events

Playwriting Competition - Cash Prize!

May 28, 2008

Short Play Writing Competition/ Fire By Ten 2008

Writers of Performance Material are invited to submit their entries for The Theatre Company’s 2008 Short Play Writing Competition. The Structure will follow the 2007 model: entries will be read by Theatre Company personnel and the actors who will perform during the Fire By Ten Season in late 2008.

The deadline for submission of material is June 30th, 2008

Entries should be submitted by email only to theatreco@africaonline.co.ke and kptheatrecompany@gmail.com
Material can be in any language
Performance should last maximum 30 minutes
The 4 winning plays will receive a cash award of 10,000/-

All entrants should submit a covering letter giving all of their contacts, a brief personal history and a statement which shows that they have read and agreed to the guidelines set out in this information sheet.

The Theatre Company is interested in receiving dynamic, original work to be performed by a company of up to six actors.
All writers will be invited to a workshop in June to discuss their work in progress. The Deadline for registering for this workshop at The Theatre Company base at Gitara, Garden Estate is June 1st, 2008.
After the winners have been selected, all writers will be invited to a workshop to discuss the writing and selection process and to hear the winning piece read by the performers.
The winning plays remain the property of The Theatre Company until the end of 2008 and then ownership reverts to the author.
Some advice:
• Discuss the process with previous participants: last year’s actors were Lydia Gitachu, Faith Nyaga, Cheptab Chepkoech, Rogers Otieno, Anthony Kinuthia and Nicholas Machlan (who is currently residing in the USA.) The winning writers were: Joshua Mwai, Jonathan Opinya, Emmanuel Munene, Alex Nderitu and Joseph Kisuli
• Don’t write what’s already be written
• Write with clarity
• Write to encourage original thought in yourself, the actors and the audiences
• We are particularly interested in work that integrates all aspects of performance: drama, music, dance, improvisation and other components
• Remember that these pieces will be performed in many varying venues, from slums to houses to bars to garages and sometimes even in theatres!

Do not hesitate to sms any questions to Keith Pearson on 0722 815 112.

www.theatrecompany.net

Written by Kwani · Filed Under Announcements