Theatre and Political Discord: Theatre Rebels of Zimbabwe and Kenya

Though the world is aware of the political activities of the Nigerian playwright, Wole Soyinka, it might be difficult to find a better example of the relationship between a nation in a state of socio-political chaos and the arts in an African country than that of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Kenya as exemplified in Matigari:Matigari, the main character [in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Matigari], is puzzled by a world where the producer is not the one who has the last word on what he has produced; a world where lies are rewarded and truth punished. He goes round the country asking questions about truth and justice. People who had read [Matigari] started talking about Matigari and the questions he was raising as if Matigari was a real person in life. When Dictator Moi [President of Kenya] heard that there was a Kenyan roaming around the country asking such questions, he issued orders for the man's arrest. But when the police found that he was only a character in fiction, Moi was even more angry and he issued fresh orders for the arrest of the book itself.