Former Kakamega Senator and playwright Cleophas Malala has said his play, Echoes of War, will be enacted with an adult cast.
Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV, he said the play’s script will soon be posted on social media, making it accessible to all Kenyans to access.
“We are going to put the scripts on the social media platforms, and anybody can enact it and upload it on TikTok,” he said.
“We will be able to get you and identify talent. This is going to be a Kenyan play. We are going to act out this play using Kenyan artists even in the remotest villages.”
Malala said that despite the call for adult auditions, the Butere Girls High School students who were meant to perform the play during the National Drama and Film Festival should be honoured.
“We are going to enact this play with an adult cast. But at the same time, we must honour the young girls of Butere Girls High School,” he said.
“A percentage of the proceeds of that play must go to those girls because they are heroines and will be inscribed in history.”
Malala hit out at his critics, questioning why he opted to use students for the play, noting that they are part of the liberation journey.
He recalled South Africa’s Sarafina of 1976, noting that students started the liberation journey.
“Therefore, there is nothing wrong with students taking part in politics or in creating and crafting their future,” he said.
The Butere Girls High School students did not get to perform in the festivals held in Nakuru as chaos marred the event.
The students were forced to suspend their act in the event where the public and journalists were blocked from accessing Kirobon Girls High School in Nakuru.
In an interview with a local media house, Malala revealed the inspiration behind the play.
Malala explained that the play was inspired by the June 2024 Gen-Z protests, dismissing claims that it was a political retaliation.
“I started conceptualising the idea of this play in June, immediately after the Gen Z demonstrations. I do not write plays because of my personal perception of life. I write plays, I am inspired by the events unfolding in our society,” he said.
“It would be wrong for somebody to say that I write plays for revenge or to advance my political agenda. I do not intend to advance any political agenda using my plays.”
by SHARON MWENDE
