Summary

Ngũgĩ opens with a memory from 1976, when a woman from Kamĩrĩĩthũ village came to visit him. Having heard that Ngũgĩ was an educated man, the woman asked him to help rejuvenate the village’s youth center. When she returned three consecutive Sundays, Ngũgĩ agreed to get involved.

In Part II, Ngũgĩ describes Kamĩrĩĩthũ, whose 10,000 inhabitants generally work in factories, mills, industrial plants, hotels or in transportation industry. The majority of workers are agricultural peasants. Kamĩrĩĩthũ also has a small professional class. The cultural center is a diverse cross-section of this society, and its main focus is on theater. Thus, Ngũgĩ asks: “But why theatre in the village?” (36).

According to Ngũgĩ, drama has its origins in the struggle with nature. In pre-colonial Kenya, peasants used various...