The East African Magazine
Date: 02.05.2016
Page 4
Article size: 174 cm2
ColumnCM: 38.66
AVE: 58000.00
Artistes celebrate
Shakespeare how
they know best
As the United Kingdom led the world in the
Shakespeare Lives celebrations on Saturday April
23, — the actual date of Shakespeare's death — in
Nairobi, an event jointly organised by the British High
Commission and the British Council brought to life
modern adaptations of the works of the bard in music
and poetry.
Thanks to the teaching of Shakespeare in schools
in East Africa, Western theatre was introduced to
Kenyans, which British High Commissioner to Kenya
Nic Hailey described as "a misguided attempt to
inculcate the idea of the so­called 'superiority' of
English culture."
However, misguided as this endeavour may have
been, Shakespeare has nurtured and inspired not
only the top thespians in Kenya like John Sibi­Okumu,
but also the great leaders of this continent like Julius
Nyerere and Jomo Kenyatta — the founding fathers
of Tanzania and Kenya respectively — and the iconic
former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela.
The director of the British Council Kenya, Tony Reilly,
mentioned that Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar so greatly
influenced Nelson Mandela that his favourite guote
was, "Cowards die many times before their death. The
valiant never taste of death but once." A guote that also
inspired the late US hip hop star Tupac Shakur who
paraphrased it in his song If I Die 2Nite to "A coward
into Swahili of Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar and The
Merchant of Venice.
Kenyan band Sauti Sol performed the song It was a
Lover and his Lass from Shakespeare's /Is you Like it,
and award­winning British hip hop artist Akala, who is
also the founder of the Shakespeare Hip Hop Company
performed Green­Eyed Monster (a phrase coined by
Shakespeare).
Apart from the music, a number of thespians,
directed by Stuart Nash, performed famous scenes and
monologues by Shakespeare.
Actress Mkamzee Mwatela rendered a compelling
Lady Macbeth and in the "Hath not a Jew Eyes?" speech
by Shylock (Fanuel Mulwa) from The Merchant of
Venice, with "Jew" replaced by "Muslim," alluding to the
need for tolerance in the face of terrorism.
British Nigerian poet Inua Ellams read an extract
of his play The Calm, which is set in Nigeria and is a
preguel to The Tempest.
The climax of the event was vintage John Sibi­
Okumu in his performance of the "Friends, Romans,
Countrymen" speech from Julius Ceasar, in which
the audience, at his invitation, participated, allowing
themselves to be roused by Mark Anthony's inflaming
speech up to the point where they all shout, "We'll
mutiny!"
As Mr Hailey aptly noted, "Shakespeare has come
dies a thousand times, a soldier dies but once." The
to represent not Britain or Britishness but a universal
relation between Shakespeare and hip hop was a
expression of the big human themes and questions,
highlight of the event, reflecting the enduring relevance which belongs to each one of us across the boundaries
of the bard in society.
of class, country, gender, race, or religion."
Nyerere will also be remembered for his translations ­ Anne Manyara
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya