RP-Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology

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https://repository.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1379

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Browsing RP-Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology by Author "Diang'a, Rachael"

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    Community Theatre and Development Practices in the Nyanza Region of Kenya
    (2015-09) Diang'a, Rachael; Kebaya, Charles; Mwai, Wangari
    Positing Community Theatre as an agency for development and is an effective way to encourage community dialogue, this article interrogates practices and efficacies of Community Theatre in Nyanza, Kenya. While contending that it has the potential to build developmental consciousness among community members on social issues affecting them, the study argues that Community Theatre provides an interesting way to explore cultural, socio-economic and developmental realities, thereby changing the way people think, socialize and act. Based on selected Community Theatre performances in Nyanza, this article analyses the practice and efficacy of Community Theatre as a social construction that is produced, regulated and consumed within specific cultural frameworks. Anchored in qualitative research, participant observation and post-performance discussions were used in data collection. The data responses obtained were organized into thematic analysed and interpreted strands, and thus, the findings show that Community Theatre is a crucial space in communities that can increase social issue awareness, influence beliefs and attitudes, prompt action, increase utilization of and support for services, explore popular misconceptions, and strengthen community support for recommended practices. Hence, Community Theatre is a safe space where communities can explore difference, question everyday life, and say the unsayable.
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    Themes in Kenyan cinema: Seasons and reasons
    (Cogent OA, 2017) Diang'a, Rachael
    This is a study of thematic dimensions taken by feature films produced in Kenya from 1963 to 2013. The rather expansive 50-year period is characterised by varied historical, economic, social and technological changes in the country. These variations have had an impact on the nature and growth of the film industry in one way or another. One such way, is the kind of subject matter addressed by the films. The main objective of the paper therefore is to ascertain the impact of the environment of production on the nature of the narratives emanating from the Kenyan feature film in the first 50 years of independence. This study purposively selects feature film genre for two main reasons; it tends to define a film industry more accurately than the other genres and it is relatively shorter than TV drama series, which, given its longer and steadier presence in the country, could have been the ideal way of understanding the social concerns on Kenyan screens. Text analysis and interviews with film-makers form the larger sources of primary data for this study. Secondary data, based on literature and films of relevance were also consulted.