Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Kenyan Cultural Star Mumbi Kaigwa Dramatizes the Dreams of African Women
Mumbi Kaigwa, Kenyan theater maker, actor and storyteller performing in Alan Bennett's Talking HeadsRepost from The Power of Culture:
Do women in Kenya still believe in the ‘African dream' of peace and freedom in 2006? Can they emancipate themselves despite the daily struggle of survival and the traditions that bind them to home and hearth? Mumbi Kaigwa asked women in Kenya these questions. These interviews formed the basis for the performance - the title of which explains all. Kigezi means ankle cuffs and ndoto means dreams.
Mumbi Kaigwa (1962) lives in Kenya and is currently considered one of Africa's leading theatre makers and film actresses. She was the first woman, for example, who dared to make an African version of the feminist play The Vagina Monologues. As UN employee in the 1990s, she contributed to the fight against AIDS, sexual abuse, poverty and other injustices. She recently played a supporting role in the successful film The Constant Gardener.
KigeziNdoto was made on behalf of and in co-production with the World Music Theatre Festival. After its premier in Amsterdam (March 2006) the play will tour nine different theatres in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. The text is spoken in Kiswahili and is sub-titled. At the end of the tour the play will also be performed in Kenya.
