Butere Girls break down, decline to perform Echoes of War play
Butere Girls break down, decline to perform Echoes of War play
Drama ensued on Thursday, April 1,0 during the National Drama Festivals at Melvin Jones Lions Academy in Nakuru County after Butere Girls refused to perform their play and walked off the main stage.
The students who were set to perform the controversial ‘Echoes of War’ play demanded for the presence of former UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala who is their director of the play.
Taking the stage at around 8 am on Thursday, the students’ echoes were silenced after being denied a public address system that has been in use in the National Drama Festivals.
Instead of performing the play, the students sang their National Anthem as they broke down and left the stage.
In a move seen as a deliberate frustration, the students also lacked an audience to listen to their play. They say that they have not seen directors of the play, nor have they trained for the last 3 weeks.
One of the Butere Girls students also cited police harassment and a poor stage setup for their play.
“We were harassed by the police, they took us to the stage with nothing. We sang our national anthem and said we are not going to perform,” one of the girls stated.
This comes after Malala was arrested by police officers on Wednesday night as he attempted to join the Butere girls students for final rehearsals ahead of their performance.
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Speaking at the scene, Malala maintained that the High Court had granted him the right to direct the play.
“The High Court has allowed me to direct the play; they are performing tomorrow morning, and other directors are already here. You have to respect the court order because it gives me a mandate to train the children, so you are denying the children their right.
“If you want to arrest me, then say why are you arresting me because I’m implementing the court order,” said Malala.
Echoes of War play has been a centre of attention as its theme is on Kenya’s governance, and the Gen Z led protests witnessed in 2024.
The play was disqualified during the Western Region Drama Festivals under unclear circumstances. A subsequent High Court ruling overturned that decision, reinstating the play and ordering its inclusion in the national lineup.
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