George Orido

The curtain falls on Strathmore University theatre outfit’s adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector at Alliance FranÁaise, Nairobi, today.

Directed by Nick Muthama, The Government Inspector is a satire that brings to life the goings on the political scene in Kenya today.

"I am staging this play to drive the message home that Kenya cannot succeed when graft and other social evils are done with such impunity," says Muthama.

In the play, a rumour about an undercover inspector about to be sent to the small town headed by a mayor leads to a flurry of activities to cover up various misdeeds and cleaning up the town.

But this is interrupted by a report that a suspicious character from Nairobi had already arrived weeks before and was staying at a hotel in the town.

It is interesting to watch how the characters react, a true reflection of Kenyans’ general attitude to responsibility and thriving corruption. Last year, the Strathmore troupe presented Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Alliance FranÁaise.

Performing in community

While it is encouraging to see a university staging performances in the community as opposed to on campus as is the norm, it is not lost on observers that Strathmore’s theatre group is indulging its audience mainly with foreign-authored scripts.

One would expect that our institutions of higher learning would be brimming with original Kenyan stories.

The last time public venues saw plays from public universities was when Odera Outa directed Lysistrata as staged by Bachelor of Education students from the University of Nairobi’s Kikuyu Campus.

Five years ago, Wasambo Were of Kenyatta University’s School of Performing Arts staged The Government Inspector at the Kenya National Theatre. And Kimingichi Wabende and his Free Travelling Theatre have been caged in a lecture hall at the University of Nairobi for some years.

Hopefully, Wabende’s joining of the Kenya Cultural Centre Governing Council that was inaugurated last Wednesday will be a shot in the arm for university theatre.

The council was appointed after the previous one overstayed its term and comes as good news to many who want new direction.