Phoenix Players was the largest and oldest repertory theatre company in East and Central Africa. Situated in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

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it was registered in 1983 as a non-profit making company limited by guarantee. The theatre was opened following the closure of the Donovan Maule Theatre, which was founded in 1958 by Donovan Maule and his wife Mollie. The DM, as the Donovan Maule theatre was generally known, officially closed in 1984, amid rising costs and limited audiences. Aware of the theatre's likely fate, a core of its

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

actors, led by

James Falkland James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, who had taken over the management of the DM in 1979, were determined to ensure that repertory theatre in Kenya did not die. The founders of Phoenix were Falkland, his wife Debonnaire, James Ward, who had previously been a children's show host in Britain, and Kenneth Mason, MBE, who, like Falkland, had served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Falkland and his team sustained a year-round repertory schedule and produced an annual musical, complete with a pocket orchestra, maintaining an impressive level of quality. Phoenix Players mounted, on average, a new play every three weeks throughout the year. Their 120-seat auditorium was located in the Professional Centre on Parliament Road, just across the road from where the Donovan Maule Theatre, now demolished once stood. While initially the majority of plays were dominated by mostly white, mostly British casts, Falkland slowly began to train and introduce more black Kenyan actors, among them

Lupita Nyong'o Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (, ; ; born 1 March 1983) is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. The daughter of Kenyan politi ...

, who won an Academy Award in 2012 for her performance in

12 Years a Slave ''Twelve Years a Slave'' is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details himself being tricked to go to Washington, D.C. ...

. Falkland's death in 2007 marked the beginning of the theatre's decline. Mason had died three years earlier, while Ward and Falkland's ex-wife, Debonnaire, had left the theatre to pursue careers elsewhere. A talented group of black Kenyan actors tried valiantly to keep the theatre going, but with audiences dwindling, the theatre struggled to make ends meet. Phoenix, named because it had risen from the ashes of the DM, closed its doors for the last time in April 2017 following what was described as a long period of debt, neglect and management infighting.

References

Sources

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national '' Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' is circulated in Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes ...

, February 26, 2007
''Death of Kenyan theatre's 'grandfather
*

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, July 13,1984
''2 Cultures Share the Stage in Africa''
*

Business Daily The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

, July 31, 2014
''Phoenix Players Lifts Actors from Theatre Stage to Stardom''
*Barrack Muluka, 27 April 2017
''Is this the final act by Phoenix?''

External links

Official website
Nairobi Theatre in Kenya Theatre companies in Kenya {{Kenya-stub