Published on 25/11/2010
Artistes and educationists will converge on Friday at University of Nairobi's Education Theatre II simply known as ED II to celebrate the life and times of Dr John Opiyo Mumma who passed on ten years ago.
A rich repertoire of poetry, music, plays and dances in his honour are lined up for the day, says convener Wangamati Wabende.
The highly gifted lecturer found success with University of Nairobi Free Travelling Theatre.
In fact, Free Travelling Theatre will stage a production in his honour produced by Kimigichi Wabende.
If Ngugi wa Thiong’o initiated community theatre in Kamirithu village with such a massive success, Mumma perfected the act by propagating it throughout Kenya in a scale only compared to Brazilian’s revolutionary Augusto Boal.
Mumma is best remembered for bringing the whole world of theatre to Kenya when he organised the third International Drama in Education Association (IDEA) congress in Kisumu in July 1998.
Academician
Mumma aka Nuba by the time of his demise was a senior lecturer in the Department of Literature, University of Nairobi.
His approach and philosophy was that theatre could be used to transform the society and as such stressed on the use of theatre in and outside educational premises. The late professor was also an advocate of the revitalisation of traditional theatre forms and aesthetics in pedagogy. Mumma was a strong admirer of Ngugi’s community theatre but not naively.
This can explain his initiative of Sigoti Community theatre. "Mumma was the connoisseur of pedagogic theatre in Kenya," says Prof Christopher Odhiambo, the Head of Department, Theatre Arts and Film, Moi University, Eldoret. He started Kenya Drama and Education Association (KDEA) to bring together all the teachers and non teachers who were interested in educational theatre.
More importantly he was crucial in the formation of Theatre Workshop Production (TWP), which had a strong impact in the development of professional theatre in Kenya as it gave opportunity in the realisation of various theatre skills and techniques.
At KDEA, Mumma provided teacher-thespians and other theatre practitioners with vast opportunities to improve their skills through numerous workshops conducted by both local and international experts in different aspects of educational and proscenium arch stage theatre.
Mumma established a strong link between KDEA and Kenya National Schools and Colleges Drama festivals — between academia and the artist.
Not to forget the numerous artists who attend workshops at the University of Nairobi Ed Theatre II.
Many thespians got an opportunity to perform on this space, courtesy of Mumma; the many artists who brought their works and script to be read and fine tuned by Mumma and his colleagues.
Performing space
The opportunity provided to artists to perform during the KDEA symposium in 1997 at the University of Nairobi, National Theatre and Museum of Kenya was amazing.
Indeed, many thespians who could never have performed in these highly restricted spaces got a lifetime opportunity.
KDEA gave part-time opportunities to many youth to earn from their skills and talents.
Through conferences, seminars and workshops, Mumma also provided fora for thespians and academicians to interact.
And many scholars and thespians got opportunity to publish works in publications such as Orientation of Drama, Theatre and Culture, Theatre, Drama, Education and Culture: Linking at the Crossroads and Communication and Development: Examples from Western Kenya which Mumma co-edited with other scholars and practitioners.
Mumma also provided opportunity to a number of artists through KDEA and IDEA to travel outside the country to attend festivals, conferences, seminars, workshops, congresses and studies.
Mumma ganged up with Tobias Otieno, Omollo K’Og’ang’o and CJ Odhiambo to draft the vision and philosophy of East Africa Theatre Institute (EATI), but whose realisation was lost as other players came in with different vision.
This explains the large number of participants who attended the IDEA congress that took place in Kisumu in 1998 organised by KDEA; leading to organisational nightmares and chagrin of the donors.
But Mumma never regretted stating that art is communal and all must be allowed to participate. Indeed he categorically stated that this might be the only opportunity for a number of local artists and scholars to attend an international forum.
