Scriptwriter John Jumbi (right) during a musical "Legacy", a captivating modern-day musical journeying through the world of generations in Nairobi on March 28, 2024.
The Kenya Cultural Centre fetched Sh25 million in revenue from theatre-goers last year, showing the potential of the creative industry to create employment.
Micheal Pundo, the Chief Executive Officer of the cultural centre, which stages theatre performances, said interest in Kenyan plays has grown, boosting audiences to 33,700.
Mr Pundo was speaking at the Kenya Theatre Awards ceremony last week.
Chatterbox Film scooped nine awards for their adaptation of Lwanda Otero, a musical play which was staged in August last year and drew a huge number of theatre-goers.
Lwanda Otero, based on the legendary tale of Lwanda Magere, which was produced by John Jumbi was part of the 235 productions staged around Kenya last year, with 148 performed in Nairobi, 12 in Eldoret and nine in Mombasa, and the rest in other places.
Jumbi, known in the theatre circles as JJ studied electronics and computer engineering but veered into film and theatre production. He is the chief executive of Chatterbox.
“When you write a script, you don’t know the end product, you’ll get,” JJ whose Bei ya Jioni (2017) and Lwanda Rockman (2019) have also won awards told Business Daily in a past interview.
His play Lwanda Otero won for best production, best musical, best adaptation, best choreography, best sound design, best musical arrangement, best female and male supporting actor in a musical, and best male lead actor in a musical. JJ credited his team for the wins, saying the win was a ‘pat on the back’ from his peers for the work put into Lwanda Otero.
Igiza Productions won for best theatre company of the year, with Mugambi Nthiga taking home best director for Too Early for Birds and “In My Own Words.”
The lifetime achievement awards went to Tirus Gathwe and Anne Wanjugu, posthumously, which were received by Dr Anne Mungai.
Ms Mungai and Mr Gathwe were pioneer actors at the Kenya National Theatre and paved the way for local actors after independence.
The jury’s special award went to Cosmas Bii, producer and theatre scholar from Eldoret, for his work in growing the industry and bringing to the fore key themes affecting society.
Kenyatta University (KU) scooped the best learning award (stage and cinema). When KU alumni were called on stage to celebrate this win, close to a third of those in the audience went up, testifying to the institution’s strength in nurturing creative arts.
Hosted by Kerry Kagiri and Martin Githinji, the ceremony was superbly executed, with correct audio and video transitions in place and short performances as interludes for the long night.
A highlight of the night was the presentation of a Sh8 million cash award to the winners of the third edition of KTA by Ummi Bashir, Culture and Heritage PS.
