Sanaa Theatre Awards nominees set to be unveiled Monday

Winners at a past Sanaa Thetare Awards event. PHOTO COURTESY

Sanaa Theatre Awards nominees will be unveiled Monday at the Alliance Francaise in Nairobi.

This will be the fourth editions of the awards and will also see the introduction of a new slot of awards aimed at recognising Kenyan actors abroad.

Sanaa Theatre Awards Chief Executive Officer George Orido noted that the recent past Kenyan artistes have made major leaps abroad among them Oscar Award winner Lupita Nyong'o.

Winners at a past Sanaa Thetare Awards event. PHOTO COURTESY

Others are Texas based choral group Moipei Quartet and the late Owiso Odera whose body is yet to be brought after dying rehearsing on stage in Kentucky, USA last month.

"This year we are introducing a new category to also appreciate works of Kenyan creatives abroad," said Orido ahead of the launch today.

The nominees unveiling will be followed up with the launch of an online public voting platform for this year's winners in a gala night set for next Wednesday at the Kenya national Theatre.

This year has seen an increased number of theatre shows given the unveiling of the newly refurbished Kenya national Theatre.

Among the possible names on the list include Maryanne Nungo, for her role in Festival of Creative Arts production Nuts, Mbeki Mwalimu for her role in the With This Ring I Need Thee under Multan Productions, Stepahnie Masike in Kuldip Sondhi's Don Geronimo and Veronica Waceke of Gilbert Productions in the production Edufa.

Other are June Gachui in 51-Nzilani- A Man on a Journey as well as Lynn Munga in Who's Your Daddy staged at Phoenix in the year.

Best Actors slot appears to be the most competitive with Robert Agengo in many roles FCAs productions this year including in hilarious play Perfecting Wedding and David Aliwah in Vioja Mahakamani on KBC Channel 1.

Mombasa based Kuldip Sondhi will be a probable name on the list of best playwright with his original play Don Geronimo and so is Sammy Mwangi with My Fish My Choice rendered by Heartstrings Entertainment and Derrick Waswa of Kenyatta University for his works on Euthanasia.