Woodcreek School is only five years old, but from the outset, it was designed with the arts in mind.

“Our auditorium can seat 450 comfortably, plus we have music labs, a recording studio, a room-full of musical instruments, and an art room,” Jairo Abego tells the BDLife on the final day of the school’s performance of Mekatilili wa Menza.

The producer of the school’s first major musical doesn’t have time to complete the listing of all the arts-related activities available at the school. The Sunday matinee of Mekatilili is about to begin, but he is keen to give me a briefing on his school’s commitment to training Kenyan youth in the arts.

Abego’s enthusiasm was magnified in the 92 cast members who took part in the three-and-a-half-hour musical about one of Kenya’s most important female freedom fighters.

“It was more than 92. It was more like 125,” says the show’s director Lewis Xavier who adds the 30 dancers that give the production so much colour, vibrancy, and joy. Then there are 33 more in the choir, according to Abego who, as producer keeps tabs on all those figures for logistical purposes.

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Read Full article on the Business Daily: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/lifestyle/art/visual-arts/mekatilili-wa-menza-comes-to-life-in-woodcreek-script-3989862