‘For Colored Girls,’ Performances In Kenya Set To Address Sexual And Gender-Based Violence

 

For Colored Girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf, by Ntozake Shange, is a globally aclaimed play which powerfully depicts issues of sexual and gender- based violence, opens in Nairobi on Thursday, with other performances in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.

The play is part of a Campaign organized by the European Union in Kenya, the Embassy of Denmark in Kenya and ACT: New Nordic Voices.

The play’s Artistic Director is Kenyan Michael Omoke, founder of ACT: New Nordic Voices, and directed by Ms Cheryl Williams, a US-based theatrical director.

The play features seven characters each representing a different colour of the rainbow, acted by renowned Kenyan theatre and film stars.

Nini Wachera, Melissa Kiplagat, Mbeki Mwalimu, Marianne Nungo, Tana Gachoka from Kenya star in the play and two Danish based actors, Wanjiku-Victoria Seest and Rebecca Langley.

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS, 2022), over 40 percent of Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual abuse, including intimate partner violence, and one in every five girls has been subjected to child marriage or female genital mutilation/cutting.

The play and campaign will contribute to Kenya’s collective response to violence against women and girls, in line with Kenya’s ambitious agenda of ending GBV by 2026.

It is part of activities surrounding the global 16 Days of Activism against GBV- a key international moment to call for an end to violence against women and girls that begins on November 25, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and runs until December 10, Human Rights Day.

BY CAPITAL NEWS