Laying bare the struggles of budding playwrights

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PHOTO | FILE While Daniel Owira of Otongolo fame got to shake the President’s hand, nothing much was said about the author of the hilarious choral verse.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By WILSON MANYUIRA wilsonmanyuira@yahoo.com
Posted  Saturday, July 20  2013 at  17:45

The choral verse Otonglo must have been a joy to watch for many playwrights. After leaving the president in stitches with unbridled laughter, the performer, one Daniel Owira instantly became a household name.

In less than a week, he had to contend with more than 100,000 Twitter followers, a lucrative advertising contract for Naivas Supermarket and a guest appearance on a TV series.

This is not forgetting the numerous interviews in between.

Sadly, and in stark contrast, nothing much was said of the talented playwright, Mr Cliff Nyakwar Dani who put the hilarious verse together. But this, however, was not the genesis of playwrights’ plight because they have been an ignored lot for long especially in Kenya. But what could be wrong?

“It’s not rosy at all to be a playwright...but it’s fulfilling intrinsically,” says celebrated playwright and theatre arts lecturer, Mr David Mulwa.

Seated behind his desk, he scratches his grey hair from time to time, observing a long silence as if pondering on something. And although his small office at Kenyatta University’s theatre department could be figuratively linked to the lack of stature accorded to playwrights, his face doesn’t reveal as much.

When he parts his lips to speak, the author of Redemption liberally quotes literary nuggets from famous playwrights such as Henrik Ipsen and El Ron Hubberd, among others.

“If you ask any Kenyan to name some local novelists, you will receive an endless list of fine writers who have churned out award winning titles either fiction or non-fiction.

But if you ask the same person how many playwrights he knows, perhaps the only name they will mention is that of the late Prof Francis Imbuga who authored Aminata and Betrayal in the City,” he says.

Financial support

Mr Mulwa believes enough has not been done to recognise playwrights. “I do not think playwrights are motivated enough and that is dangerous”, he says. When you look at the book industry, playwrights are not given any attention, moral or financial support which is vital to their growth. He says playwrights, just like any other human, would love to be recognised.

He blames government for doing enough to support writers. “A society survives to the degree that its artists are engaged in society through artwork”, he says, quoting Sir El Ron Hubberd a revered English playwright.

He has no kind words too for publishers, whom he says have never acted to motivate budding writers. “Publishers should be at the forefront to encourage playwrights to submit manuscripts as creativity for plays is more than abundant here in Kenya.

Marketing is also another issue which Mr Mulwa says hampers growth of local playwrights. He says publishers should hold workshops with young writer to advise them on how best to market their plays.

According to him playwrights should also not go to the comfort zone. “No writer waits until he is asked by the public to write,” he says adding that as Henrik Ipsen who said he is motivated by “That which bothers you”, this too should be the guiding maxim of playwrights.

“That which cripples the society and you are passionate about, write about it,” he advises. He also urges young playwrights to read and write a lot. “Your work must be very good for it to be published”.

Mr Mulwa believes there is never going to be an end to playwrights judging by the growth of stage performance of plays both in theatres and TV, which he says gives playwrights the reason to keep on writing.