- Joy town secondary school won the best creative cultural dance in the special needs category.
- Kamusinga High School had a play called The Walls of Jericho written and directed by Eric Amunga alias Amerix.
Image: LAURA SHATUMA
Trophies, certificates and awards were lifted high as drama festival winners celebrated victory; while others were left in tears and despair.
The national drama festivals held in Mombasa created an opportunity for students to showcase their talents.
At the national level, a few teams were selected to present their items in State House before President William Ruto.
Joy Town Secondary School which won the best creative cultural dance in the special needs category presented a Luhya traditional dance.
The school trainer Esther Gathuo narrated to the Star the experiences from the conception of the idea and training to the final win.
“It is not easy to train them especially physically to the point that they have a rhythm from the beginning to the end,” she said.
The team performing had students with different physical handicaps - crutches, others on wheelchairs while others had differently formed parts.
Apart from the different abilities of the students, they also went out of their way to perform a language outside their own.
“Our school is in Kiambu and we had to challenge ourselves to compete using Luhya songs, and am glad the students enjoyed it,” she said.
When the bell rang for the performance to begin; the students were all smiles, waiting to do their best.
Having disjointed hips did not hinder the dance soloist from dancing vigorously and even shaking his shoulders in the famous 'kamabeka' style.
Kamabeka style is a dance majorly performed by the Luhya people where they rhythmically shake their shoulders to the top and sideways.
Riara Springs Academy scooped the most creative play- the eyes have it- with their hugely invested décor, backdrops, costumes and props.
The part that moved the crowd involved a scene where a student went to the school clinic for an eye scan to confirm if she was visually impaired.
“It’s a standard practice and we have to take you through an eye test in our mobile clinic,” the school nurse said.
At this point, the backdrops were shaped with layers to represent the eye and the audience could see a representation of an ongoing eye scan.
Using wood and paint, the backdrops showed a clear ongoing scan of the eyes which rotated in a circular motion.
Kamusinga High School had a play called The Walls of Jericho written and directed by famous Twitter champ Eric Amunga alias Amerix.
The play was ranked second best creative play and one of their actors also scooped the best actor.