Female directors on Point – A Look At Ekwa Msangi and Carol Odongo-Boy.

As we continue on this series of East African directors, I compare and contrast two female directors; - Carol Odongo–Boy and Ekwa Msangi. One is a theatre expert who has spread her wings to TV production while the other is an independent film maker who has carved her niche on both the local and international scenes.

i. EKWA MSANGI

Ekwa grew up dreaming of a music career. She left nothing to chance as she took her music lessons in school and even joined the

orchestra at St. Mary’s School, noteworthy for having brought out some of Kenya’s highly recognizable talent in the music scene including stars like Chris Adwar. However one of her family’s hobbies was going to the cinema (how nostalgic drive-ins are!). It was very obvious to Ekwa that the movies were not made for her. The characters were American or European and it was a rare jewel to come across a black actor (who had to die before the movie ended!) All she did was complain throughout the movie as her family tried hard to concentrate. During one cinema-night, her irritation incensed her father, who angrily questioned “Why don’t you make your own movies?” Ekwa took up the challenge and promised that she would.

She however continued with music since as far as she was concerned no East African had ventured into movie-making before. Imagine her surprise when she found out that her uncle, by virtue of being married to her auntie, was involved in film making! Her American uncle was an ex-Black Panther member who for undisclosed reasons had to leave America and moved to Tanzania. It turned out that while at Tanzania he worked for one of the premier production houses to be set-up in East Africa. They produced anti-apartheid campaign materials, educational pieces and radio plays. Her uncle later moved to Nairobi and Ekwa’s dad requested him to mentor her on the Art of Film. Of course, years later many actors (including myself) across East Africa, America and the Caribbean are glad she had protested while the rest of us were happily enjoying the drive-in cinema experience.

I first met Ekwa when I went to audition for a production that had been rumored to be of high budget and that would be the first drama series produced by M-Net in East Africa. There is always one nerve that pumps harder during auditions even though you feel well-prepared. Ekwa operated the auditions very differently. She made me feel like I was not auditioning but rather I was experiencing a practical session. I tried two roles and even insisted that I would like to try another one. She called me for a second round of auditions which was just as engaging as the first one. I was then selected to play a role that was to change my life as far as my acting experience was concerned.

Ekwa is the only film director I worked with who ever called me to rehearse. Her sessions were more like therapy as she made me answer questions as the character I was going to play. She then threw a challenge that I thought was dreadful but that I’ve always used to this day. She asked me to choose a day in which I would spend the whole day as my character interacting with other people. So for the duration of that day I was Drogba, a matatu driver and the Street Kingpin who was dreaded in the whole of Eastlands. Even though this project flopped and only four or five episodes were aired, my performance was recommended everywhere with producers getting praises for my performance from fans outside East Africa. This was all thanks to Ekwa’s insistence on rehearsals and her directing skills on set.

So what made Ekwa such a great actor-director? After high school, Ekwa went to America to pursue a degree in film-making and TV production at the New York University. She did not quite enjoy the first years as she faced the same challenge she had as a young girl watching movies with her family- all the projects to study were occidental and she could not relate to them. It was only in her fourth year that she was introduced to African film makers. She was intrigued but also annoyed that she had to come all the way to America and wait for three years before learning about these great artistes. She decided to enroll for a Masters Degree in African Films. This would mark the beginning of her pursuit of high quality and meaningful films that would inspire and affect people back home. As life continued to unfold, she went from project to project in the USA which automatically became her third home. She is a Tanzanian who grew up in Kenya.

You can therefore only imagine Ekwa’s joy about five years ago when her script The Agency was picked by M-Net Africa as the first locally produced one hour long drama series in East Africa. The scope of the project was big and gave her an opportunity to learn

the Kenyan film industry. She had a memorable experience working with the crew. To her great surprise, she was respected and her being a woman had no impact on her instructions. Unfortunately, this was also her lowest moment as the project which was produced by Sterling Quality Ltd. could not stretch to the last episode of the first season due to production- related difficulties. However, through this experience, game changers like the great Dorothy Ghettuba emerged (yes, I just called Dorothy Great). Dorothy, the award winning producer, worked as a project manager in The Agency and later went on to form Spielworks Media after the flop. Ekwa, not being the kind to cry over spilt milk got over it and steadily built an illustrious career as an independent film maker.

With several award–winning films under her belt including her short film thriller Taharuki (Suspense), a 12-minute prequel to her feature film In development, was picked up for distribution by Shorts International Inc. and is currently in circulation in both North America and Europe. Weakness, a short film she produced, was nominated for a 2010 Kalasha Award and a 2011 African Movie Academy Award (AMAA). She is in the last leg of promoting Soko Sonko (The Market King) which was commissioned by Focus Features Africa First Program. She is currently co-writing and directing a highly engaging and artistic comical web series called All My Friends Are Married.

Ekwa’s approach is very much a reflection of her altruistic personality, as per the typical Tanzanian way. She focuses on getting the actor to be as natural as possible. She believes that actors are not only selected for their ability to act or for having the features the script has stated but that they also carry the personality that a director can best use if the actor is “himself”. She therefore engages the actor’s true nature in relation to the role being played.

Although Ekwa is based in New York, her commitment to East African film is very vivid and she is working on a project that will be shot in the region. She urges all industry players to take their work more seriously. She stresses that our value is not only in terms of how much we get but also by what people get. We inspire, make people cry and laugh and share memorable experiences with their loved ones. If actors realized that their bodies are the platform through which all this art is exhibited and emotions elicited, they would take care of it more by working out, eating right, avoiding drugs and getting spiritual nourishment. Worthy advice for the actors, don’t you agree?

ii. CAROLINE ODONGO –BOY

I joined commercial theatre after three years of working as an amateur at the beginning of 2006. My main frustration was with the directing. I just didn’t understand this ‘blocking’ business and why a director wanted me to “tilt my neck” a little, or to “walk three steps and drop the line” or “to fill/feel the stage”…That plus many other specifics that totally eliminated my intuitive contribution as the actor. I lamented to my friend Lydia Gitachu about it. She had already tested the waters for a few years (and later went on to bag many awards and do several international projects). Lydia talked about a director who didn’t bother you with all that crap. She talked about how this director had the ability to help the cast interpret the script, hence the blockings and the line delivery came freely to the actor so that all she did as Director was to polish and choreograph the specifics. I was partly excited for and partly jealous of Lydia for having the opportunity to work with Carol Odongo-Boy.

Despite my desire to work under this top talent in Kenyan theatre, I never really got to work with Carol until sometime in 2013 when she herself went through baptism by fire by directing 120 episodes in a series as her introduction to TV directing. But I am jumping ahead so let me start from somewhere.

Meeting with Carol at Wasanii (we miss that bar!) was always a pleasurable moment. Her satin, bold and cheerful face made you think she was one of the new actresses looking for an audition at the Kenya National Theatre. As a matter of fact Carol Odongo is one of the most experienced and successful thespians in East Africa. She started acting in 1990 while in university. During this period, theatre was still regarded highly as an intellectual form whose reflections had great impact on the society. Perhaps because the Kamirithu movement tale (where villagers, mostly illiterate women, who had never seen a theatre before built an amphitheatre-like performance space where they performed indigenous plays) was still rife and Ngugi wa Thion’go’s revolutionary theatrical campaigns that saw audiences fill the theatre as early as 5 a.m. just to watch a play were also a near memory.Either way theatre was then still highly regarded and revered in Kenya. This was the scenario that Carol had to contend with and this meant that getting roles was not automatic; she had to prove herself.

She started off as a chorus girl in a musical then graduated to small roles in straight plays after which she bagged major roles in plays up to and including a two-hander and a one-woman show. She did many years of stage management in between acting and then moved into directing one-act plays and eventually full-length plays including musicals. Her entry to directing was not immediate nor was it eventful. The decision was made quietly; in silent and private moments. No one could understand this personal dilemma. In truth, she had no doubt that directing gave her a lot of satisfaction including the ecstasy of creating and the responsibility of moulding people into great actors. On the other hand, she was at her prime in acting and madly in love with the vocation.

Her first challenge was a Theatre For Development model- based project that required a cast of more than twenty performers. It was in 1996 while working at the Phoenix Players where the legendary James Falkland noticed her attention to detail and interpretive skills and took it upon himself to mentor Carol into one of the most sort after directors to date. Of course all Falklandarians have a favorite lesson- hers was how to deal with actors because of their varied temperaments and personalities. Falkland always compared actors to 'race horses'- you must know how to deal with them; know when to use the carrot and when to use the stick! Carol left an admirable record at Phoenix having worked on fifty repertories. Demand for her work however grew and every producer who cared about high quality and dignified production contacted her. This saw her direct numerous plays at the Kenya National Theatre, Alliance Française and theatre companies in Mombasa between 2002 -2004. Around this period many great and successful actors passed through her capable hands, including Kenneth Mason, Annabel Maule, Sam Madoka and Ian Mbugua.

Many actors see Carol as a mentor who took it upon herself to take time to train the actor having been fully aware that there are no successful acting schools in Kenya (And please don’t tell me about the archaic and classical-theory filled theatre and film degree course in the universities). As a matter of fact it is difficult to find a successful Nairobian actor who has been in this game for a while and did not go through Carol!

Why did Carol turn to film directing? Film was never far from Carol’s grasp as her husband Cajetan Boy, one of the most prolific script writers in East Africa, had already made the switch from stage to film.

Carol, as an accomplished script writer herself, helped Cajetan Boy and other TV script writers in conceptualizing and writing scripts. She was however resistant to the idea of leaving theatre as this was her first love and she knew that this was the only suitable space to train actors. However the phenomenal producer, Dorothy Ghettuba was determined to re-make Block–D, which had ended in struggles two years after its first season with KBC. She managed to convince Carol that this was the debut project for her. Having been a cast in the series myself, I can tell you that no one could tell that Carol was doing her fist real TV job. She assembled an outstanding cast and was always dignified when handling any challenges on set. True to her abilities, she successfully head–wrote and directed the one hundred and twenty episode show which was an immediate hit on Africa Magic, with a steady and loyal viewership. This marked the beginning of a now illustrious career. Depending on what you consider to mean latest, she worked on Mama Digital, a TV sitcom with Ebru TV last November just after producing two successful pilot series that were about to go on air. She also directed one hundred and twenty episodes of the drama series Sumu la Penzi with Spielworks Media which currently airs on Maisha Magic Swahili.

Have you worked with either of these ladies? What did you think? What did you learn? I would love to hear….

TOP EAST AFRICA’S DIRECTORS SERIES – GATONYE VS KONSTANTARAS.

A director is the single most important person to an actor as far as character development is concerned. Contrary to the current popular habit of screen directors who only focus on the storyline and type of shot (then what are directors of photography highly paid for?!) and stage directors who only focus on blocking of scenes, a good director is supposed to help the actor get into character from the moment he/she is chosen for the role.

As an actor you should be free to give your opinion to the director but also be humble enough when he/she rejects your idea. Just to clarify, it is better if you share your discoveries with the director than if you make incessant suggestions that make you look like you are directing the show (of course you know that kind of eccentric actor who directs the director as well as fellow actors). . It was amazing to listen to Lupita Nyon’go’s interview on making 12 Years A Slave (the film that won her the Oscar – just in case you are coming back from Jupiter) where she revealed that she discovered that her character Patsey would have loved dolls so she made one and played with it for character development. The director however loved it and decided to have it on the film. In honor of this important position in film and theatre, I will in a series of articles compare various directors within East Africa. But before I continue please note that directing is not a promotion from acting. It is too often that I hear young actors dreaming of being directors simply because they want more money and cheo (higher post). Ok, so let’s begin with two of the most successful Kenyan directors; Victor Gatonye and Alexandros Konstantaras (who by the way is Kenyan by choice and marriage!)

i. Victor Gatonye

The first time I met Gatonye, he was this lean tall teenager in high school whose presence alone on stage drowned the room with female screams. Of course I would watch his play frowning but somewhere along the way I would be so immersed in his theatrics that I

found myself laughing and cheering along as well. Not only did he bag many National Drama Festival awards but he also got big deal commercials that ensured his face was all over the streets on the billboards. All this he had achieved when still attending Highway Secondary School. After high school, this child prodigy went on to star in a couple of high budget TV programs that soon made him a familiar face nationwide. It therefore came as a shock to many and disappointment to his fans (myself included) when Gatonye disappeared from the screens only to re-appear as a director.

Apparently Gatonye had attended an audition for Makutano Junction and failed to get the part. For those who may not recall, David Thump’s series was a well-funded and highly produced edutainment program that was for a while the only stable employer for Kenyan actors and crew people. Gatonye, did not give up and managed to get a way in as a runner mainly serving tea on set. Due to the training program that the Makutano Junction project was offering while filming, the zealous and determined ex-child star managed to get training in lighting and sound engineering. By now he had marveled at the magic of the camera for so long and was convinced that with his experience as an actor, he would make a great actor-director. Soon, together with award winning director Hawa Essuman, he was trained and nurtured as a TV series director. He later went on to become the main director for Makutano Junction in the seasons to follow; of which his episodes won several awards. But this was just the beginning.

As an East African actor you will enjoy working with Gatonye since he is very keen on the nuances of everyday normal life mtaani (in the hood). His approach to directing a scene is simple. If he was watching it as a show or was hidden somewhere in the scene, what would he be interested to follow up? This helps him to ‘hold the thrill’. I think what stands out about Gatonye as a director is that he is one of the first Nairobian actors to successfully transform to a director. On set he always has time to joke around, even join the cast and crew ‘gossip’. This way the actor is really at ease while working with him. The fact that he can give directions in sheng as easily as he can in English makes actors who are more sheng inclined understand him easily and go deeper in their delivery. Gatonye is also a nerd for quality and detail. He will point out something that was very subtle and make it interesting; so you will also have to nod along acting like you had ‘seen’ it.

Gatonye has since then directed innumerable films - both high and low budget. This included M-Net’s highest budget series, Kona. It is in Kona that he teamed up with producer Appie Matere and George Mungai to form Zamaradi Productions. They are among the few companies that were commissioned to produce tens of Kenyan movies that I think will later on make the Kenyan content a good alternative to the Nigerian or South African markets.

ii. Alexandros Konstantaras

Alexandros Konstantaras on the other hand started as an indie as opposed to commissioned work. This trailblazer made way for many other independent producers and (let’s be honest here) gave the lords of Riverwood a run for their money. This all begun after Vivid

Pictures, the company he was working for had basked in the sun of their internationally acclaimed movie ‘100 Days’. Buoyed by this victory and looking to produce films that would be more accessible to the Kenyan viewer, he helped Nick Hughes set up Jitu Films, a department of Vivid Pictures whose objective was to produce a collection of low budget movies and flood the market in such a way that pirates did not have a chance. This model faced its own challenges just like every pioneer initiative would do. However, it was a breath of fresh air into Riverwood which before then only made sales based on indigenous language movies. In typical Kenyan fashion, we complained that the movies were too cheap (my dear Kenyans!). Nevertheless Alex worked tirelessly on this project and soon became the face of the project on all fronts- starring, directing and producing. This is when you realize not all white people are the same and this one was as hardcore as they came.

I remember attending a Producers’ conference organized by Zuku with Alex. The directors insisted that they required local producers to deliver high quality content. Alex shot up and explained to the directors that they needed to understand that the budget they provided was not anywhere near the quality they were demanding. Of course a debate transpired but it was amazing to see this courageous director air out a pivotal challenge in independent production. Alex forged forward with his star-actress wife Liz Njagah-Konstantaras to form Historia Films Kenya. They have delivered productions that have taken the Kenyan market by storm, including ‘Me My Wife and Her Guru’, ‘Return of Lazarus’ and ‘In The Forest With Gerald Langiri.’

It was however their comedy ‘House of Lungula’ (lungula means sex) that finally gave them the national attention they richly

deserved. This was the movie with the most controversial title Kenya had ever produced. It ignited a lot of conversation with self-righteous Kenyans condemning it and in the process making more and more Kenyans want to watch. Alex didn’t let the dust settle and together with his supportive go-getter wife produced ‘Fundimentals’ which was released this year and one of its main actors, Gerald Langiri, nominated to the Nigerian AMVCA Awards (sorry I’m not writing it in full- Google is your friend).
Alex’s approach is based on wrapping grave socio-economic issues with humor. I don’t know how the fully trained film –maker got the Riverwood syndrome but working with Alex actually makes you feel patriotic. Above him there is only you and the film and no other big guy. He discusses the scene, enjoys it with you without further directorial jargon and excitedly discusses how he sees it shot. Actors also feel like his peers and partners when making a film which makes them give it their best shot. They also stick around with him as he gallantly promotes the film to a Kenyan audience.

Both Gatonye and Alex have one thing in common. They are determined to put Kenyan films on the map and hence create a wider platform for our actors!

In the next article I am going to compare and contrast female directors and look at their enormous contribution to the acting fraternity.

In the meantime have you worked with either of the two directors profiled here and what was your experience? Or what did you think of their productions? Also let me know about your favorite director and why?

How To Deliver Award Winning Lines - Advice For The Actor

First let me clarify that ‘Award-winning’ in this context refers to an effective and distinctive performance as opposed to the

undeserving awards that often compromise our events.

It is important to point out that new techniques of acting are always being discovered and explored. Acting can easily be compared to ICT where new software applications are the order of the day. It is therefore folly to insist that you have the best and most perfect approach and ignorant if you think that the approach you used in the past is still the most appropriate in the present. This is how our old school actors and directors get and remain stuck in a rut.

Acting techniques have been evolving since time immemorial beginning with our very own African ritualistic ‘theatre’ and musical performances to the patriarchs and matriarchs of modern acting techniques like Stanislavski, Sanford Meisner, Michael Chekhov, Utah Hagen, Viola Spolin, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Oh Sae Tuk…just to mention but a few.

As a continuation from the last blog post, here is a game-upping procedure that has helped me master my roles:

 Depending on how you want to approach the scripted story, you may decide to read the whole script or only read what relates to your character. I remember a script in which I decided to ignore the other characters and developed my own character in genuine empathy of his background and recent realities. I was properly shocked when I watched the show and discovered that I was actually the main villain in the show! Some directors may choose to do that intentionally to enable the actor explore the positive traits of the antagonist. All in all, you must understand the background of your character and the environment that affects him.

 After that, read your dialogue out loud. Look at the lines and read only as much as you can store in your memory. Look away from the script, breathe in and out and say it as naturally as you can. Let every word released be an honest reflection of your feelings. Do not worry about the words that you don’t connect with emotionally- say them as flat as they come out of your mouth. For example, if you are saying, ‘I love you’ and at that moment the word ‘love’ does not mean anything to you, do not try and emphasize it.

 Moving on, read out loud the lines of the other character as well. After you finish, repeat what the character said in form of a question. For example, if the character’s line was ‘I love you too’, you will say loudly, ‘I love you too.’ Then repeat the statement as a question, thus you say “Did you say that you love me too?” But before you look at the next line in which the character you are playing is supposed to answer, give your own genuine answer such as “Heck, now I’m in trouble.”  Maintain the emotion and expression you have used in your own genuine answer as you read out the answer offered in the script, such as “Of course darling.”

This technique has a little bit of Michael Chekov’s philosophy and Practical Aesthetic method. Although it might appear long and challenging at first (But you Try Meisner’s and you will think twice about this!), it enables the actor to avoid working from the intellect which only promotes secondary emotions. This is not to say that intellect is to be ignored but in order to redress the balance between intellect and emotion, emotion must take the front lead, if only for a little while.

It does benefit a hardworking actor who would like to dig deeper into his/her work. The most important and neglected part of learning text is preparation. You may do well to remember that during a performance, you are, as an actor, the piece of art. Only there is no canvas. The audience wants to ogle and consume every moment that you have to offer.

Feel free to share some of the methods that have helped you as an actor/ actress deliver on your lines in the comments’ section.

If You Cannot Deliver Your lines, You Cannot Act.Period.

The Schools’ Drama Festival begins this week. Soon the chosen venue will be a buzz of activity with each group being chiseled by their demanding teachers to fit into roles. Sadly this won’t be the role of the characters they are playing, but rather those demanded by judges who have refused to encourage the end of melodramatic acting. It is a pity that after school, actors who come from this style of acting will run to the audition rooms flushing their certificates and awards from the Drama Festivals- only to go back home without the role and not understanding why.

Some are wise enough to start from scratch. Most of us had to be re-schooled and groomed during set book acting. Here the directors and producers are usually kinder to the ‘cause’ and spend a lot of time and energy assisting upcoming artistes. The situation today is however grim as many actors in East Africa do not see the use of stage acting and therefore have no space to horn and develop their talents. As the demand for actors rises especially with the coming of age of digital migration, many directors and producers have had to contend with actors who either come from the melodramatic school of line-delivery, or those who simply do not have a reading habit and therefore struggle to relate with text. The result is that the audience has to endure dodgy on-screen and theatrical performances, cleverly disguised as ‘professional acting’.

I remember a short while ago how excited I was as I rushed into the cinema to see a much publicized film that carried high expectations since the producers had a good track record. The movie started on a high note;- the characters were really believable in their features and expression. The main protagonist looked the part and was very interesting to observe…until he opened his mouth to speak! It was clear that he could not consume the well written lines and translate them into believable moments. He made you feel like wanting to repeat the word he delivered on his behalf so that he could repeat it more effectively.

This experience taught me an important reality. After all is said and done, as an actor you are on your own. When the audience “bears with you” as you struggle to deliver your lines, they will not know that you never attended drama school; they will not know that you competed in a drama festival which only required of you to speak as if you were presenting a choral verse; neither will they want to know if you are semi –literate or whatever challenge the average East African actor has to go through. For them you simply cannot act!

In the next post, I will give a tip that may help you acquire good line-delivery in time for your next break-through role.

Meanwhile I'd love to know how you prepare for your role :-)

THE BIGGER PICTURE: How the whole production affects you as an actor.

Acting is a challenging profession; one that is guided by two paradoxical attributes: artistry and entertainment. Although these two share a lot in common, they are each inspired by different factors.

Entertainment as a business guarantees revenue. It develops a repetitive and consistent formula which will ensure that the client (in this case the viewer) comes for more, hence the different genres on TV. Artistry on the other hand has a deeper desire to cause lasting effect in the hearts and minds of human beings- possibly in an ingenuous manner.

In order for these two important attributes to be used effectively by the actor, several aspects of the production must be on point. Unfortunately this is usually not the case in East Africa; a place whose viewership expects “Hollywood” quality on a “Riverwood” budget. With the steady but sloppy increase of local TV and ‘cinema’ productions, the actor is the most vulnerable when it comes to viewer criticism. This is because the average East African viewer knows very little about the filming process and may easily compare an actor in a drama series to a singer who simply goes into the studio and produces songs with relatively less complex production. They are, after all, all artistes, right? I doubt you as an actor will have time to explain to all your viewers what went wrong on set and therefore you must be ready to take blame for every aspect of the production that will affect your performance.

I remember I once filmed a role in a family drama in which my character had come back home to his family drunk, angry and bruised. During filming, I did a couple of takes in which, with the permission of the director, I played slightly differently. The final product that was aired was however slightly disjointed and lacked continuity. It showed my character coming in with a limp, extremely drunk on one cut then appearing as not drunk and without the limp in the next cut. A friend later pointed this out and since he was not in “the industry” translated this to mean an inconsistency in the acting. I could not convince him that the problem had been in the editing. And how will I ever forget watching my friend give her best performance during the premier of a hyped movie; for her character to get into her bedroom with a bruised cheek dressed only to go back out to the living room with her cheek conspicuously smooth...the elastoplast vividly missing!

An actor’s final performance is affected by many things most of which (s)he does not have direct control over. Like me, you might at some point have been disappointed when watching the final production that you spent lots of artistic resources developing appear below standard when aired.

In order to avoid this, as a professional you must do your ground work before going for an audition or accepting a role – offer. First, you want to know who the producer of the show is. No matter how good every aspect of the show may look, if its producers have bad records or you are unsure over their ability to deliver, then accept that you are taking a great risk. As you may agree, we live in a region where the talented have no resources and those who have, have no talent. You also want to know who the designated director of the show is.

Directing is an art and just like any form of art, it is easy to identify one’s style and quality of work. Do not expect a miracle from a director whose last job was not satisfactory or up to standard. Many directors in our region are more keen on the cinematography (I’m being kind. It’s really, just declaring angles of shots to be taken) aspect of the film at the expense of character development. It is counted as good luck if you stumble into a director who rehearses with you before the shooting day or sets a one on one to discuss the character you are playing. You can tell of this scarcity by the great number of actors on our screens who cannot relate to the characters they are playing.

Due to lack of supportive structures in the young industry, an experienced actor will usually ask deeper questions that will also touch on quality of sound, set management (I know you have beef with being called to set early and shooting hours later or not shooting at all) and casting. For as you may know, a bad actor can easily make a good actor look bad. But this is a topic for another post.

Reflecting on a profound experience - Sundance Institute Writers' Lab in Salt Lake City.

This year I came back home a night shy of the tragic fire that engulfed our Airport after almost a month of interacting with creatives at the Sundance Resort in Salt Lake City.There was no time to miss America or even encourage the jet lag since my production projects badly required my attention.Now four months after the dust has settled,I begin to nostalgically and critically compare the Sundance Institute experience to our own East African productions.The muse decided it should be in form of a letter of appreciation to the organizers.

Dear Sundance Institute East Africa team ....

This email had long been written in my heart and my mind but I came back home into production duties of our TV show. I want to really thank you for the opportunity granted to me as one of the East African directors who were able to meet together for a second time and also network with other practitioners outside Africa as we observed and participated in creation of magical work. I'm glad that you are still supporting this kind of work.

I have a long list of experiences that were beneficial to my artistic knowledge.The ones that stood out were observing the relationship between the playwright and director in developing a story.I realized how helpful it was to the writers to "hear" themselves. The talented directors had a unique opportunity (directors rarely work with writers in East Africa ) to dive deep into the playwright's artistic pool and even re - discover what the playwright "meant" but was not able to articulate.These incidents were magical and eye-watering.

I'm still impressed by the extremely high level of organization that was maintained through out the workshops. From the time a wonderful and kind volunteer assistant came to pick me up at the airport , to the running of the rehearsals and even making sure we retired comfortably in our designated rooms. I'm still amazed at how the leadership was able to manage the crew so efficiently and still be able to make everybody feel cared for and significant in the success of the project.

After (and due to) The workshop at Utah:

I have made friendly and professional contacts with some of the artistes from the workshop.First , the East African directors, who are now a family.We try our best to keep in touch and encourage each other in our individual projects , and with other great participants that I met at the mountain. I guess I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart :-)


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Philip replied:

Thank you so much for sharing what you learned at Sundance and for your gratitude. As I’ve said before, it works both ways. All of us at Sundance are grateful for your participation, for getting to know you as an artist and person, and also for your lovely warmth and generosity. This bond between the people of our Institute and the other artists you have met will only continue and grow. Sending much love to you,

Philip

Philip Himberg, Artistic Director, Sundance Institute Theatre Program

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Roberta also replied:

Dear Rogers, Thank you very much for taking the time to write down these valuable thoughts. I'm glad to hear that the connections you made at Sundance are continuing to develop. We're all looking forward to hearing your updates!
It's a joy to have you as part of the Sundance family. Your contributions continue to enrich our program and the experiences of everyone involved. Thank you! Roberta

Roberta Levitow

Co-founder and co-director, Theatre Without Borders

IGNITE GUMZO-Fun club for kenyan workers.

Need a break after a day of meetings and proposals? We'll get you back to the madness later but meanwhile, join us for our regular 1st Thursday of the month evening conversations.


FREE and open to all, our talks will revolve around a range of lively topics affecting professionals and organizations alike.

You can stage a skit with your colleagues.
Sing about an outrageous news story.
Engage others in discussing the latest world crisis is how you unwind, why not?

Ignite Gumzo is an informal session to escape the merciless clutches of your demanding job and a chance to network with other professionals, our evening presents a chance to explore passions that you ditched after college.

It will be light, easy and casual and anyone can participate.

Come along and let your guard down and don't forget to have FUN!!