Akuya Ekorot, a performing artist with his craft focused on Spoken Word poetry and both stage and screen acting. His intense poetry made him the 52nd Slam Africa King on August 2014 during the Slam Africa championships. During this period he was the under 18 representative at the Nakuru Players Theatre, an elected position by the members due to his active participation in the theatre. Akuya Ekorot premiered on The Phoenix Theatres with the musical Contract Love which ran during the valentine period 12th and 13th February 2016 where he brought his brilliant rap lyricism into theatre. He participated in the first Actors Monologue Challenge on March 24th 2016 where he emerged First Runners UP for his popular monologue The Rapist (Can be accessed at the Poetry Section). He Art Directed the afro-futuristic play If Dawn Breaks written by Wanjiku Wamuyu on the 13th of March 2016 (Photos can be seen in the photo section). Akuya Ekorot is currently a third year student at Kenyatta University pursuing a B.A in Theatre Arts and Film Technology, the theatre and Film Industry is truly his path.
He is currently one of the six member of The Theatre Company's Performance Laboratory 2016 which is a six-month full-time training program at the foothills of Mt. Kenya at the company's station Karichota.
Akuya is a beard enthusiast and enjoys African stories. He awkwardly loves both the arts and the sciences. With only 20 years behind him, he has a bright future in the performing arts and film industry where he plans to work for the rest of his life.
NAIROBI: Theatre lovers will be treated to a rare musical this Valentine when Silk Theatre premieres their new play titled Contract Love.
Love will be in the air when Martin Githinji, Fanuel Mulwa, Faith King’ola and Akuya Ekorot get into an intimately explosive story of passion, deceit and anger.
Contract Love, written and directed by Zippy Okoth and co-written by Jean Akinyi, is a story of the power struggle between two long-time friends, Harry and Chris, and a young girl Anita who falls in love with the latter.
Anita is torn between Tom’s love and Chris’ affections and the chance of a better life.
As a student from a humble background waiting to join the school of law, Anita accepts the job of taking care of Chris, through her boyfriend Tom.
Chris suffers a heart condition that leaves Harry in charge of the company. Harry, out of greed, plots to take over by lying, backstabbing and blackmail.
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Harry takes advantage of Chris’ trust, Tom’s naivety and Anita’s lack of money to get his way.
Tom is manipulated by Harry into thinking he has more to gain if and when he sides with him against Chris.
Zippy, who won the best Director at the 2015 Sanaa Theatre Awards, where her musical Tigo scooped the best production and another four awards, is known for her passion for infusing authentic Kenyan music into her persuasive lines.
And Contact Love seems to be something of a delight that will live up to the billing.
“I thought it a good idea to build on our success last year and entertain our audience with more content,” said the ever jovial Zippy who also teaches music at Kenyatta University.
“I think it will be a good opportunity to have the audience mirror themselves when they get to watch it,” says Zippy, who this time round is working with a spare cast.
The play premieres at Phoenix Theatre on February 12th, 2016 through to February 14th, 2016.
One of the fastest growing word artist in East Africa ‘Akuya Ekorot’. His prolific knowledge in poetry made him the Slam King after a tough competition.
Akuya will express his poetic stories in a realistic nature touching every social lifestyle affecting every social being in the society. His prowess in literature will make him one of the best poets in the world.
‘Listen’ is one of his poems. Enough said…watch the poem; learn, be entertained and praise the dope art of the raising star Akuya.
https://youtu.be/gZC9aZMAfow
The ambience of PAWA 254's Mageuzi Theatre is cool and homely. Gufy (one of the hosts) started off with a word of prayer at 14:40 p.m. Akuya Ekorot (a Slam King), opened the stage, concisely delineating the theme of his piece before he commenced. Gufy then asserted how the show would go down and the criteria of crowning the King/Queen; and mentioned the scheduled afternoon's performances. He invited the day's slammers on stage: Becky Wairimu, Nita Thuo, Trabolee, Willie Oeba, CEO, Keith Kibet (Cartoonist), Griffins, Elizabeth and Cilabeez. Kwamboka Kwamboka was then invited on stage as a co-host of the day's show. (She started off a bit shaky but later connected with the audience). And they said what prizes the audience would be receiving for tweeting the most under#SlamAfrica and @InfinixKenya. The judges were introduced: Orato and Nana. Other special mentions would be done later.
Nita set it off with a piece concerning the aftermath of exes. Trabolee followed with "The Truth" about religion and Africa. Griffins (who stops at nothing as he's slammed in the two previous Slam editions) followed. He had a powerful performance. Cilabeez was next with the entertaining "Letter To My Daughter." After, Becky had "My African Mother." Gufy handled the break and did special mentions and also introduced judges Mufasa and Richie Maccs who had come in. Willie followed with "State Of The Nation Address" excoriating our ruling class with entertaining imagery and satire. As aforementioned, Gufy afterwards gave a watch to a Jude, from the audience, who'd tweeted under the requisite items, as well as Millie. More was to come. The two hosts then called CEO next who talked of our human traits. The last two slammers were called back to back: Elizabeth then Keith. The former enunciated how we're heroes and heroines within; the latter weaved his love for cartoons into his impressive piece on his ideal woman. First round was closed. The judges were tallying. Gufy gave out a second watch. Mbunge Aliyeparara (a Slam King) entertained with his piece "Sanaa." Kwamboka gave out a second watch as well and she handed it to Laura Ekumbo who was next on stage with "Future Ex." A very fascinating and unequivocal piece, trust me. Gufy then promised tickets to the 57th Slam Africa edition for those who'd retweet a tweet he was posting at the moment. The results were now ready. We would have seven, au contraire to the usual six, for round two: Griffins - 7.1, CEO - 7.1, Cilabeez - 7.2, Willie - 7.9, Keith - 8, Trabolee - 8, Becky - 8.2. (Out of a possible 10).
Kwamboka called Willie to start off round two and Keith to follow. Willie had "Man Of Her Dreams"; Keith followed with a piece on self-consciousness. There was a short break; Gufy gave the three tickets to the next Slam to a young girl in the audience. Trabolee was next then CEO. The masterpiece "Eon Of Light" was delivered by Trabolee but not to his best energy level; CEO performed an emotional piece about his mother's resilience and admirable nature. Then, "Addiction" was Becky's piece; and "Free To Love" was Griffin's, which sounded a cliché, as even Orato would point out later. The hosts then gave out two other watches and a powerbank. All these giveaways were courtesy of Infinix Kenya; whose digital marketer, Jesse, was present. Finally, rape: was the theme of Cilabeez's piece "Regina Tena" which closed the generally dull and unexciting second round. The judges tallied again.
Kwamboka invited Virus to perform, meanwhile. He thrilled the audience. As we awaited, the hosts gave out two Infinix plastic luminous bags. Fuse (a Slam King) was the next performer, taking aim at post election violence, as tallying was finalised. Gufy then introduced Cate Kabura (Mdundo Representative) and Thiru Mungai (Mdundo Head Of Music) who talked of their intended partnership with poets. The third Infinix bag was then given to a young Tony from the audience. Pascal Tokodi performed next and he started with imitating accents from all over the world at the audience's cue. Then he touchingly sang an Abigail Arunga's poem from her book "Akello." He completed with his latest "Usiniache" track performance. G-cho Pevu was then welcomed on stage to inform us on his involvement with an organisation aiding cerebral palsy patients and that they have a walk on 27th June 2015. Now, Wanjiku Mwaurah was the specially mentioned judge. She had the results: Griffins - 4, Cilabeez - 4.6, Willie - 5.4, CEO - 6.4, Keith - 6.6, Becky - 7.2, Trabolee - 8.6. We had the final three and Orato asked the finalists to enchant the audience, to bring their A-game. "Today, it has been flat. It has been dull, as compared to previous editions." He said with conviction. He invited Griffins, Cilabeez, Willie and CEO on stage and commented on their works at an individual level. Afterwards, another Infinix watch was given to a Mordecai. The final slammers were to go back to back: Trabolee, Becky, Keith.
"I Forgave You" was Trabolee's final piece: a sentimental one about his late dad and fatherhood. "Too Late" was Becky's last: an insight into her previous relationship. Keith completed with a very sentimental one letting us in on his father's erratic behaviour. Trabolee's and Keith's pieces had very similar content. Great minds...! That round was closed. Kwamboka read to the audience some facts on gender based violence as we awaited the final results. Gufy introduced Rixpoet to perform, and JKD then impressed the audience with their vocal ability and rap skills before the next performer, Dorphan, who did "Collosus" and "Ndoa Doa." Mufasa then performed a piece on mother Africa and "Letter To My Future Wife." Following the engaging performances, the hosts (who had amazing chemistry) gave the last two watches to Sharon from the audience and one to judge Wanjiku. Akinyi Okot of SEMA App, concerning gender based violence, was then invited and mentioned something on the same and wanted to randomly reward Kshs. 5000 to any poet whose piece addressed that issue: that was Dorphan. The atmosphere was very fun-filled. Three t-shirts were also to be awarded, and a trophy to the King/Queen by SEMA.
The time had come. First, Norman (the 55th Slam King) was asked to perform just before a new King/Queen was crowned. Orato later went on stage and first applauded the audience for being the most engaging entity. Eventually, the awaited moment had come. Diction and better stage presence was highly noted in the third round. With 8.2, receiving a t-shirt for third place, was Becky; with 8.5 and being second for the second time (which rubbed some members of the audiene the wrong way), receiving a t-shirt as well as a powerbank, was Trabolee. With 8.6, at 1900 hrs, Keith was announced the new King to an ecstatic applause. He received a trophy and an Infinix mobile phone; and performed a final piece to close the 56th edition.
There is this skewed misconception that to be a creative of any form you have to have a touch of insanity, just like everyone else on this planet but just a notch higher for you to have the touch of brilliance. So if insanity is creativity I would turn my dial up just a bit higher to catch the frequency waves that are creativity.
The 52nd Slam Africa August edition was held on the 10th of August at Pawa 254. Slamming is a spoken word competition where talented poets battle it out to be crowned king or queen of slamming. 10 to 12 poets battle it out in 3 rounds, and in each round some poets are eliminated by the judges up until they get the winner. This is a much coveted title for spoken word poets in Kenya. The title tends to carry around a certain respect for this form of art.
Poetry, the sun and the outdoors are a really beautiful combination. I’m glad the sun came out to play on that day. I have heard both Teardrops and Gufy do their thing separately as spoken word artists but when combined they are explosive MC’s with the energy and hype of a thousand suns and they had the whole crowd infected with laughter. The slam started off with 12 poets and through each stage elimination was carried out by the 3 judges. I was amazed at all the talent that was displayed and very glad that I wasn’t a judge because it must have been so hard on them to be the ones to pick the top three contestants. At the end of the day Akuya Ekorot was crowned the slam king and the runner up was Laura Ekumbo.
I would love to transport you to a world where other people’s words bring out a set of emotions, you will laugh, you will cry, you will think and in the end you will be amazed at how words put together are possible of doing all this. No matter how many words I put to this article I will be unable to express the beauty and effect that spoken word can have to your emotions. The best thing you could do is to try and attend one poetry event whether you are a fan or not, you might actually be swayed to fall in love.
The 2014 Storymoja Hay Festival will be held from September 17th-21st, 2014 at The National Museum in Nairobi.
This year, the theme of Storymoja Festival is Imagine the World! Waza Dunia! Last year’s festival was cast by a dark cloud when the Westgate Bombing happened during its run, but that shall not be held against this year’s festivities.
Several well known authors and writers will grace Storymoja this year including Nobel Laureate, writer and activist Wole Soyinka, filmmaker Kenny Mann, renown poets Kwame Dawes, Sitawa Namwalie, Kennet B, Ladan Osman, Liyou Libsekal, Matthew Shenoda, Vuyelwa Maluleke, Abigail Arunga and Njeri Wangari, fiction writers Prajwal Parajuly, Oduor Jagero, Vered Ehsani, Kinyanjui Kombani, Tony Mochama, Ciku Kimeria, Alexander Nderitu, Ndiritu Wahome and Doreen Baingani, artists Mshai Mwangola, Dizraeli and Fedelis Kyalo. Young authors will also be given a chance at the festival, like 9 year old Ngure Matu Ndiritu and 13 year old Joseph Baraka Bokea. 11 year old Luca Berardi shall perform as a recording artist.
ACCLAIMED WRITER WOLE SOYINKA
Those who buy their Storymoja Festival Day tickets early will enjoy a free pre-registered Masterclass. Several Masterclasses will be facilitated by experienced writers and creatives, with presentations beneficial to both the young and old.
The Nairobi edition of the Storymoja Hay Festival will also include entertainment from various artists. Performing shall be the famous Kenyan band Sauti Sol, poet Akuya Ekorot, singer-songwriter Ayrosh, a poet and graphic designer Dante, Kenyan Girl Band KIU, poet Teardrop, spoken word artist G-CHO PEVU and many others.
Akuya will be performing at the School of Visual and Performing Arts event alongside artist from the University. Entry Free!
Kenya National Theatre