By Anderson Ojwang
The bug in the family. In the little-known Rata village and Ndiru Primary School in Seme sub-county rose Kenya’s theatre legend.
Kenya’s bearded professor, Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, wrote the story of the country’s global arts and theatre through a bug that bit the family and runs deep.
From Alliance High came Peter
From Alliance High School came Peter, who in Form One defied all the odds and volunteered to be among the prospective actors of that year’s play by Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.
“From Ndiru Primary School, where I trekked for four kilometres, went without lunch for four years, sat and passed my exams, a passion was born. I passed and joined Alliance High School. One fine morning, at the parade ground, the headmaster announced that this year they were recruiting actors for the play Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night,” he said.
The announcement triggered excitement in him and adrenaline boiled in him, and he told himself that was a chance of a lifetime that he must take up.
“Those who are interested in acting in the school’s main play, please report to the main hall at 5.00 pm. As a Form One, I reported to the venue because I wanted to be an actor in the play,” he said.
Nyong’o braved the audition and finally landed the role of a curtain boy for the play – no mean achievement for a Form One student.
“After the audition, I was told I was going to be the curtain boy. You know what a curtain boy means? Opening the curtain. I said fine, it always begins from somewhere. So I will be the curtain boy. I was a curtain boy who ended up knowing every sentence in the play,” he said.
In Form Two, when a similar announcement was made, Nyong’o was up again, running to the audition and hoping to land a better role this time than curtain boy.
“I went to the main hall, prepared for a breakthrough. That time it was another play by Shakespeare, Othello. From a curtain boy, I was cast as the Duke of Venice,” he said.
That was the beginning of Nyong’o’s life in theatre, and he later introduced theatre to the Alliance Boys Luo Association.
From Alliance High School, Nyong’o became the centre of theatre in Kisumu and even produced a play.
“I started bringing plays to Kisumu during the holidays, where they acted in the Social Hall. Finally, we graduated to Garrison Theatre, which used to be in Robert Ouko Estate. In my fourth form, I produced a play in Kisumu at Garrison Theatre. I was rising,” he said.
In Forms 4, 5, and 6, Nyong’o was playing leading roles and even became the chairman of the debating society and the school captain of Alliance Boys.
“Acting and producing plays taught me one thing: speaking on stage is something so nice. It gets everyone listening to you as you speak. You are powerful. My entry into politics started with acting plays. When I went to Makerere University, in my first year I was elected guild representative,” he said.
Mexico: Lupita the conqueror
In exile in Mexico arrived a bouncing little girl, Lupita – a gem and a typical recreation of the bearded professor in all shades.
In Lupita, Nyong’o’s theatre soulmate arrived to carry on with the journey from Alliance High School to the globe.
Lupita Nyong’o started acting as a teen in Kenya and went on to work behind the scenes of the film The Constant Gardener. She directed and produced the albinism documentary In My Genes and starred in the TV series Shuga.
In a journey to fulfil her father’s dream, Lupita went to the U.S. for higher studies and received a BA from Hampshire College. She graduated with an MFA degree from the Yale School of Drama in 2012.
In her youth spent in Kenya, she was active in theatre, starred in a TV series, and directed and produced the documentary In My Genes about the discriminatory treatment of Kenya’s albino population in 2009.
Just like her father, Lupita authored a bestselling children’s book titled Sulwe.
Her major breakthrough came in the movie 12 Years a Slave, in which her acting was critically acclaimed.
She won an Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for her role in this movie and is the first Mexican-Kenyan actress to receive this honour.
With other key roles in movies and on Broadway under her belt, Lupita has won numerous awards/nominations and accolades. Her next projects are to produce and star in Born a Crime, a film adaptation of Trevor Noah’s memoir, and in a television series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah.
Lupita has become a majestic fashion icon, with red-carpet appearances and features in publications like In Style and W. She also twice graced the cover of Vogue in a short span of time, appearing on the publication’s July 2014 and October 2015 issues.
Peter and Lupita – Kenya’s arts and theatre have shone globally.
