DIRECTION AND ACTING

Nothing is as challenging for actors as performing on a space that is mostly native for open-air concerts, acrobatics and dance etc. This wasn't a stage designed for 'stage plays' and the audience was mixed, including a large group of revellers whose primary entertainment is the nursing of frothy things to the background/foreground of live band music.

The actors therefore did absolutely well to perform in such an atmosphere I should congratulate the calm team (Dave Otieno and Jagpal Sandhu maybe?) for rigging the sound system to capture and convey actors voices.

The experiment did work, and the actors ought to be given a thumbs up for their efforts. I have tried to share action photos (taken by my amateur self) to communicate the cast in action. Enjoy and kudos to the actors Cast including Sam Psenjen, Sandra Wambui, Dadson Gakenga, Suzanne Karani, Kelvin Jeff and others.

The problem I think with most hype is to increase expectations and nearly eliminate the expectation of failure in a production. The hype in this play was based on some kind of experience of 'Sarafina' and 'I will marry when I want' productions.

The directing of 'Mstinji' seemed to still struggle in the director's challenge of overcoming a few of the following: acting in a line (msururu wa waigizaji), temporary loss of character when one has no lines to say essentially not building into actors the collective and continuous responsibility to be aware and conscious that any time they are on stage they contribute to the reality/credibility of colleague actors actions/words, and infusing effective stage business to enable continuity. The director seemed to have tried to overcome this through type-casting, which only could provider so much cover.