Why is Nakuru Nairobi's talent farm?

It is no secret that Nakuru is the queen of exporting talent, literally, to Nairobi.

I will not bore you with the long list of creatives from Nakuru thriving in music, film, comedy among other art forms in Kenya.

Neither will I make this a ranting article, although I will confess, I am tempted to.

Instead, we will make this a solution oriented conversation and objectively answer the obvious question; why is this happening and what can Nakuru do to stop it?

To help me answer this mind boggling question, I reached out to some of the creatives who were undergoing a training targeting professionals in the theatre space dubbed County theatre fiesta.

In this vibrant room full of talented individuals, I meet Jemima Canary. You may have seen her in the highly acclaimed film Mpakani which I must add airs on Netflix.

Canary is one of the optimistic actresses from Nakuru who believe that she can succeed in Kenya’s fourth city, all the challenges be damned.

“The biggest challenge in Nakuru is lack of well-equipped spaces where professionally done plays can be staged. As we speak, the Nakuru players’ theatre is closed,” she begins.

I urge you to note down the use of the word professionally because it will come up a lot in this article.

According to Canary, success then can only come if the County has a modern space like Nairobi’s Kenya National Theatre to give room for consistent, staging of plays.

When she screened her film last year, Canary says the same challenge reared its head, as Nakuru lacks a cinema where movies can be screened forcing them to use a hall in one of Nakuru’s hotels.

Knowing the need for great sound when setting out on such a venture, the results were well, let’s not dwell on the past.

I ask the City Manager who was present, Gitau Thabanja, on what the county is doing to fix this venue issue once and for all.

For starters, Mr Thabanja distances himself from the troubles of the theatre saying it is a membership club, but, the County is in talks with the leadership to see how it can salvage the situation.

He then throws the ball back to the creatives saying if there were enough plays staged regularly, it would push the need to have a space.

“Our hope is that after capacity building through this training, the plays will increase. We plan to have a modern theatre in the near future and are in talks with the Kenya Museum at hyrax to use some of their vast space to develop a youth centre,” Mr Thabanja notes.

Sheila Awino, a set designer brings in an interesting angle to the conversation saying most times, the budgets for plays in Nakuru locks out professionals like her.

“I see the possibility of making it in Nakuru but sometimes the production budget is so small and does not include roles like mine. Hence I’m forced to go to Nairobi," she reveals.

It is this exact problem that Kenya Cultural Centre CEO Michael Pundo, believed the said training will help with.

“For a long time, professional productions have only happened in Nairobi. Producers in Nakuru may not use for example a lighting technician. This means a lighting expert has no job here in Nakuru and is forced to come to Nairobi where these skills are needed,” Mr Pundo explains.

And there it is, many who are skilled in various theatre production skills in Nakuru have no place to use them. So what do they do, they go where their skills are needed and appreciated.

I am curious to know what happens post-training. Mr Pundo assures the creatives that there will be technical support and also a collaboration with Nakuru city to ensure long-term support.

For theatre lovers in Nakuru, the 81 theatre professionals under training will showcase their plays from May 16 to May 18 at the Old town hall with tickets ranging from Sh300 to Sh 500.

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