OPEN THE SERVERS
So you may know I was a
thespian before I became an actress. Kicking off with a quote from J.D
Salinger, “Among other things, you will find that you’re not the first one to
be confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior.” When I joined theatre I joined it with love I
dedicated all my passion I took it like my baby and so of course you would not
just expect me to throw it in a drain or flush it in the toilet. The power of
mega talents put together amazed me, which pumped in the hunger of growth in
me that propelled me to who I am today. Today, I can proudly confess my growth
in theatre, professional thespian.
Backstage Drama. WINNING PLAY.
The heartfelt emotion, the
humor, the love, the unity, the drama and the reality staged in Backstage Drama by
Light Theatre Production from Africa Nazarene University was just on another
level. A story well scripted and served justice by the entrusted cast. A story
that brings out the challenges that we as the youth go through day to day. Some
we can blame it on no one but us and some on the established laws, just like in
the competitions. Has it ever occurred to you that it is not about justice
anymore, that the traditions of the land were made laws and it has nothing to
do with being fair? Has it? Apparently, in this case it has, there’s an express
key to the servers. Then comes claim of balance and moderation which I will not
oppose either, but when this moderation
comes in what happens to those who worked so hard, those who sacrificed their
lifetime for a certain period just to come and stage the best? What happens to
that weak soul that depends on drama? What happens to that heart, body and soul
that depends on drama as survival? A heart that has drama as a priority and not
choice? What happens? Should we keep killing them in the name of balancing?
Does it even seem right? The gala list of performances started to raise my
suspicions. We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued
to fall. A convincing reason crossed my mind, maybe it is because we were
scheduled to leave early. Shockingly, this not only caught our eyes but also of
those who were looking forward to re-watching our items at the gala with an aim
of learning a thing or two. Interestingly, the audience was full of university
students who would definitely give unbiased credit where it deserved.
Anyway, let me go direct to the point. Introduction of KUPAA in the year 2018 brought so much hope to university students of drama. Hope that at last students would express their un-highlighted talentsfor instance through introduction of the spoken word category, parody, mashup etc. LTP has walked the KUPAA way all through since initiation for KUPAA showed more life from instigation and was the only shed of hope remaining. KUPAA started small but in just a year has grown bigger by attracting more universities from all over the nation. There could be some in-house issues but the biggest obstacle or rather showstopper in this course is justice in adjudication. That’s the reason I am here. I believe it should not get to a point of involving the DCI in cubing the looming trends on that adjudication table but if we must then why not. The answer to all these concerns lies in the hands of these individuals.
Anyway, let me go direct to the point. Introduction of KUPAA in the year 2018 brought so much hope to university students of drama. Hope that at last students would express their un-highlighted talentsfor instance through introduction of the spoken word category, parody, mashup etc. LTP has walked the KUPAA way all through since initiation for KUPAA showed more life from instigation and was the only shed of hope remaining. KUPAA started small but in just a year has grown bigger by attracting more universities from all over the nation. There could be some in-house issues but the biggest obstacle or rather showstopper in this course is justice in adjudication. That’s the reason I am here. I believe it should not get to a point of involving the DCI in cubing the looming trends on that adjudication table but if we must then why not. The answer to all these concerns lies in the hands of these individuals.
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| 1. Mueni Lundi - Natioanl Adjudicator KUPAA 2018/2019 |
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Manipulated Modern Dance Results KUPAA2018 |
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| 2. Marion Bosire - National Adjudicator KUPAA 2019 |
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| 3. Victor Ber - National Adjudicator KUPAA 2019 |
Victor
Ber is a multi-talented performing artist and theatre manager. He has been a
creative Director at Heartstrings Kenya From 1998-2010. He is also the creative
Director of Laugh Industry Kenya (Producers of Churchill Show) from 2010 to
Date.
Now,
the three individuals highlighted above are answerable to all the complainers
concerns irrespective of whether they succumbed to external third party
pressures or took bribe to declare the results. I mentioned third party
influencers considering the fact that KUPAA has been in the verge of convincing
more universities to join in from KNDF. That has led to rules being changed
even in the course of the festival where we witnessed very boring items (sorry
to say for the lack of a better word) being picked to entertain during the nationals gala just because they wanted to win
the hearts of new institutions. Very disheartening and devastating that items
can now be picked from indulgence and not merit.
Anyway nothing is always
right as it seems.
Maybe it is not about the
balancing anymore all that is nothing but an excuse. Come to think of it, there
is an institution that carried almost five wins, is that balancing? Now I get
it, the servers needed refreshments, they needed cold water to quench their
thirst since the weather was too hot and temperatures in the room kept rising
anytime LTP got to the stage. But could they quench the thirsty servers with
their electrifying performances, oh travesty, did they?
Unfortunately, No they did
not provide the facilitation fee to the servers thus did not quench the
servers’ thirst. But for how long? For
how long will this go on? For how long will we quench the servers? For how long? If you ask me, I do not know,
it is absurd that the laws do not serve justice. I rise for theatre justice.
Will there ever be a
resolution for this issue? Will we always complain year in year out? Wait,
maybe we need external auditors. Or maybe, another independent third eye to sit
in the midst of the audience from day one to the last day. Or maybe, we just
bring in the DCI. Or even restage the complaints item versus the one that pleased the adjudicator. Or perhaps VAR,
to record and compare the items at the end of the festival to justify the
alleged wins and complains. Just thinking out loud.
I end this by uplauding all
university students who were not biased in giving credit where it deserved. Our
competitors were convinced and bowed to the fact that our items were good just
the same way we did to other institutions. A good example being the MMU modern
dance. This year you outdid us. Thank you JOOUST, AIU, MMU , PWANI, TUK , MMUST
,MASENO and many more for acknowledging that BACKSTAGE DRAMA – ANU play,
deserved better than not being ranked. We would have wished to fulfill your
desires by staging the item again for you to learn but
again the decisions made by the bench did not favor us. Thank you once again
for your kind words.
#FUNGUASERVERS
#KUPAA2019
#LTP
#JUSTICEOVERLAWS
#AFRICANAZARENEUNIVERSITY
#UNSTOPPABLEWAVE
