Newcomers shine at school’s Drama final in Nyeri

Oriwo Boys perform narrative Arise to the Occasion. [PHOTO: GEORGE ORIDO/STANDARD]

By GEORGE ORIDO

NYERI COUNTY: Drama minnows came in strong to shake the veterans and emerged tops in the just concluded 2014 edition of the Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival held in Nyeri.

In a ceremony presided over by the Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang’, it was song and dance as Oriwo Boys scooped the Best Narrative Arise to the Occasion.

Ringa Boys from Lake Region scooped the Best Comedy and made history as the first team to win this brand new genre whilst Oriwo was second with their dance

For this Oriwo Boys from Lake Region was pronounced the most prolific school at the festival.

Their dance The Life Blow wowed in its youth and agility.

“This is the way to go. As much as we love or tradition the element of modernity is good for our children, said Dr Belio commending the dance The Life Blow from Ringa.

The dance is a creatively rendered piece that depicts drunken driving. Presented in pure dance with modern hip hop music.

A group of young men and women are drinking themselves over, then one of them proceed to drive but a policemen comes in to test with the alcoblow.

Of course the driver fails the test but with a little bribe they are cleared to proceed on to crash a few metres away – fatally.

Riara Girls came back to reclaim the top act position in play with their action-packed play Roots of Dishonour.

The play depicts a society bedevilled with the negative repercussions of Female Genital Mutilation suggesting it could have led to increased number of disoriented persons in society.

Hot on their heels were Menengai High School with the play We Are One on the thorny issue of terror and how our institutions of learning are increasingly becoming soft spot for terrorists.

Prof Christopher Odhiambo of Moi University and who together with Hannington Ochieng and Collins Mumbo adjudicated the Secondary section said the standards of performance continue to rise.

“While this is good it is also noteworthy to mention that a few pieces still struggle with telling a simple story," he said encouraging producers and students not to overload the imagery.

He said music must be selectively be picked to tell the story in the modern dance and movements must signify certain meanings as you tell the story.

Karima Girls crossed the finish line before the rest of the pack in the Cultural Dance category scooping Gold with their dance, Mugundu Witu.

In a surprise move Dagoretti High School were ranked echoing despite being suspended from the festival for the next two years after they were caught abusing drugs in their dormitory.

Their piece rendered and sourced from the Bunyala folklore was unique and a breather to the predominantly Bukusu and Kakamega cultural dances.

Bungoma High came in third with their dance on child education.

Moi Nairobi Girls defended the solo verse title with Nicole Adoch presenting Darling Dolly.

Bungoma Boys also defended their Choral Verse mantle with a verse Mwiko Mmoja by Toili Khisa.

Winners will perform to the President at Sagana Lodge Wednesday.

Some of items slotted in the programme include Apondi Situnya by Daniel Owira, Eselenkei by Naikara Secondary School, Mvua by Gachororo ECD and Vidude by Makutano S.A Primary School among others.