Days after the script of the Echoes of War play by Butere Girls Secondary School reached a fever pitch with the detainment of the playwright and former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, more details have emerged on the drama said to have taken place behind the scenes.
Speaking to Citizen TV on Sunday night, Malala refuted claims that he had made significant changes to the script, claims that were made following the chaos that erupted in Nakuru last Thursday.
According to the former Senator, minimal changes were made to the script during its entire run as part of his commitment to give the school girls cast an easier time internalising the play.
"I wrote this script, and I made a commitment to the cast because last year we did not perform very well with the girls because the play kept on changing, and we did not have the time to internalise it. I made a personal commitment to give them a full script, and we would do very minimal changes," Malala stated.
"The adjudication sheet from the sub-county to the county and the regional level, nine of them appointed by the Ministry of Education, gave it a green light. So at what point did they start seeing change in that script? The script that was performed at regionals was given a green light by the three adjudicators, and we scored 90 per cent."
Responding to concerns by the school's principal in a viral letter to the drama patrons alleging that the script had been altered, the former UDA secretary general asserted that they did not have anything to do with the scriptwriting.
Instead, he accused the principal of trying to absolve herself of any blame as her retirement was nearing. He also claimed that she had actually watched the play for the first time at the regional level; thus, her assertions of a script change were unfounded.
He also decried the fact that the letter was not addressed to him as the playwright but to the two drama club patrons, another of his counter-accusations to allegations being thrown his way.
During the interview, Malala also denied claims that he had written the play as a way to take revenge for his ouster as the UDA secretary general, asserting that he started writing the play when he was still serving in that capacity.
According to him, he gets the motivation for his plays from events occurring in society, and the Gen Z protests in June were part of what inspired "Echoes of War".
"I do not write plays because of my personal perception of life. I write plays inspired by the events unfolding in our society, and therefore, it would be wrong for somebody that I write plays to revenge or advance my political agenda," he stated.
"I have done plays on social topical issues. This year, I have done plays on doping, dissemination of information on HIV/AIDS, and the plight of police officers. Therefore, I just choose a topical issue in our society and do a creative piece on it."
Malala also revealed that she had been training the Butere Girls for drama festivals over the past 15 years, and they had performed 15 of his 82 plays.
