Wabende blends music and Sikand’s poetry to serenade nature

love and peace It was first shown several years ago by Prevail Arts when the show’s focus was primarily on the poetry of Joan Secand, who is better known as an environmental activist than a poet.

the previous weekend, Peace and Love: A Musical Nature It was reorganized by the University of Nairobi Traveling Theater under the direction of Professor Kimingichi Wabende, who is also the Chair of the Theater Department at UoN. But there was little comparison between the two shows other than that both are based on Second’s poetry.

Dr Josephine Ojiambo, President of the Rotary Club of Nairobi, said, “Professor Wabindi has considered renaming the show ‘Serenading Nature’. BDLife Just before opening night on the 1st of June. But, apparently, out of respect for the poet, he stuck to the original name.

Regardless of the title, this highly experimental production was as much a product of Sikand’s imagination as it was of Wappindi’s. One of the reasons for this is that the professor selected different poems from prevail to highlight it in its production.

“It’s true that I gave it all four Who wrote Joan’s poetry (Reflections, Makonde, Mind – sacred place, And Sunflower) from which I chose the poems I needed to shape the story I wanted us to tell,” Wabendi said BDLife.

After that, he woven poetry with music, song and dance, and for this reason one can consider both of them responsible for producing the show that would have been called “Mysterious Nature”.

But the second chapter tells stories about animals, from the tortoise, elephant, swan, and snake to the lion, eagle, impala, and buffalo. Working closely with his choreographer, Dennis Magero, Wabende used Sikand’s lines to dramatize the animals’ lives using dance, drama, music, and make-up. Not easy, but the twelve or so dancers were agile, skilful, and quick to follow the choreographer’s lead.

It was difficult because it was seen not as an effective experiment but as a bewildering mosaic of words and movements that didn’t make much sense. This is where the acting came in as all of the “poets” poems turned into heartfelt monologues.

Not that they ever met the poet before opening night when she was briefly introduced to both the cast and audience. But all of the poetic voices in the show seem to share Sikand’s passion for preserving and saving wildlife from the hardships of poachers, the so-called advances, and even the SGR Railway, which traverses the paths of what once were. Exclusively protected for wildlife.

Actors, musicians and dancers at the University of Nairobi’s Mobile Theater perform the musical ‘Peace and Love’ at the Chandaria Center for the Performing Arts on June 1, 2023. Image | politeness

The singers also kept to themselves, although none were professionally trained. What they had were songs that were familiar, relevant, and mostly Aboriginal. The live music provided by the band (made up of keyboards, guitars and drums) kept the tempo flowing and upbeat, even as Secand’s language at times seemed abstract, impressionistic and slanted.

However, one cannot help but begrudge Seikind the publication of not only books of her poetry (something we know is not easy as most large publishers find it hard to even consider publishing a volume of poetry) but also the performance and translation of her poetry in the language of music, dance and drama.

Joan was lucky to find her publisher in America. He read her poetry, loved it, and was happy to publish it. But another boon for her was finding Professor Wappende, who was willing to take on the challenge of producing love and peace.

For me, it was quite an achievement because it wasn’t easy to sift through all those poems and grab the ones that would work best in “Singing Nature”. Even more impressive was his ability to weave poetry in with these other artistic elements to come up with a show that would surely improve once Traveling Theater had the costumes and designs it had hoped for.

Actors, musicians and dancers at the University of Nairobi’s Mobile Theater perform the musical ‘Peace and Love’ at the Chandaria Center for the Performing Arts on June 1, 2023. Image | politeness

One of the main reasons Sikand was able to push her hair to the stage we saw in UoN Towers was to connect with other organizations, including Friends of Nairobi National Park, Wildlife Foundation, and Chandaria Foundation.

The Rotary Club of Nairobi also assisted the poet by connecting her with Professor Wabindi and the Traveling Theatre. All of these organizations have played a role in ensuring the success of the company love and peace. Just next time, I’m crediting the title, reverting to it being “Serenading Nature” because the show does just that.

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