Director and playwright Derrick Waswa of Dorion Production brings a historical play, Last Spear of Nandi: A Story of Koitalel Arap Samoei, to the Kenya National Theatre stage on August 16 and 17.
The play tells the story of the Orkoiyot, the Nandi spiritual leader, and his prophecy on a railway and his ultimate resistance that led to his death.
Before settling on this story, Derrick visited Nakuru to research which historical narrative to tell, with Koitalel’s story of patriotism captivating him.
He admires that Koitalel led his people in defending their land with only spears and arrows, equating it to the youth’s resistance against oppressive regimes.
“This is the same element of patriotism that we are seeing in football, where people put aside their tribe and political affiliations to support their teams,” he says.
The play also shows women as strong forces in society, with Koitalel’s six wives depicted as some of his advisors.
Derrick read through books written about Koitalel’s life, including those kept at the Koitalel Samoei University College in Kapsabet, to accurately capture his life and the historical events surrounding him.
“I wanted to stick to the real events without exaggeration and manipulation, even dialogues,” he says.
Derrick presented the play in this year’s Kenya National Drama and Film Festival, which won Best Play, Best Original Play, Most Creative Play, Best Costume, and Best Scenic Design and Lighting. After the festival, he went back to the drawing board to rework it.
Derrick sent countless letters to the Department of Culture and Social Welfare in Nandi County and Nandi County Government officials on his request to bring the stage piece to Nandi, too. The Koitalel family learnt of it and gave a call to the playwright.
He retold the story to the family, and they asked him to weave stories about Koitalel’s six wives and his brother. He was also to include how the family fled after Koitalel’s assassination in 1905, to which he complied and received a go-ahead from them.
Earlier this week, a demand letter circulated on social media for an injunction to stop the production. The letter, signed by Albert Kiprop, identifying himself as a family spokesperson for the Koitalel lineage, called for any activity surrounding the play to be immediately stopped.
“On behalf of the descendants and the extended family of the late Koitalel Arap Samoei, I hereby issue this formal notice and injunction regarding the intended staging, performance, and commercial exploitation of the theatrical play based on the life, history, and legacy of Koitalel Arap Samoei,” the document read.
The letter demanded that the family review the script in a period of 30 days. They also wanted 30 per cent of gross proceeds from ticket sales, sponsorships, and any other income from the production to go directly to the Koitalel Arap Samoei Family Heritage Trust “for preservation and community benefit.
Further, they wanted an employment consideration of ten youth from the Koitalel lineage and/or Nandi community in the production and promotion of the play.
But seasoned actor Simiyu Barasa says works based on historical figures shouldn’t be interfered with unless there’s copyright infringement, slander, or defamation.
“You’d think that given the dearth of works celebrating our history, any historical work would be celebrated… This is so sad. We cannot celebrate our history and historical figures and tell our stories, because such will arise?” Simiyu posed.
Derrick believes that there isn’t a private ownership to stories of national heroes, and therefore, artists don’t require the approval of descendants of those heroes.
“People should be free to write the stories they want,” he says.