The last performance of "Ngaahika Ndeenda" ("I'll get married when I want") on Kenyan soil dates back to 1977, performed by workers and peasants in the town of Limuru, in the center of the country.

The play was only performed for a few weeks.

The resonance met by this account of the exploitation of ordinary Kenyans by the country's political and economic elite displeased the authorities, who quickly banned the play and all of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's work.

The play's writer and co-author, Ngugi wa Mirii, was arrested and imprisoned.

After a year in Kamiti high security prison, Ngugi wa Thiong'o is released.

But "they (the government) then practically forbade me to get a job," he told AFP in an interview from California, where he went into exile.

The play "Ngaahika Ndeenda", by the famous writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, back on stage after more than forty years of prohibition in Kenya, in Nairobi, May 26, 2022 Tony KARUMBA AFP

He returned to the country in 2004, after Kenya took a democratic turn, but his stay was cut short.

Days after being cheered on arrival at the airport, armed men beat him and raped his wife in their Nairobi apartment.

It was never established whether this attack was a violent burglary or if it had other motives.

"The play had all these consequences on my life (...) My life would not let me forget it even if I tried," says the 84-year-old author.

"Spiritual Experience"

Born in 1938 into a large peasant family in central Kenya, the country's most famous writer - and regularly nominated for the Nobel Literature - first wrote in English.

His decision in the 1970s to abandon English in favor of his mother tongue, Kikuyu, established his reputation as a writer committed to the defense of African languages.

The play "Ngaahika Ndeenda", by the famous writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, back on stage after more than forty years of prohibition in Kenya, in Nairobi, May 26, 2022 Tony KARUMBA AFP

In Nairobi, the play "Ngaahika Ndeenda", which tells the story of a modest Kenyan family struggling against land grabbing by wealthy compatriots, is performed in Kikuyu, with some performances in English as well.

"It's a spiritual experience for me to be on this stage," says comedian Mwaura Bilal, who plays Kiguunda, a farmer fighting for his identity and his piece of land.

"There is an intrinsic human need to connect with what we are, especially in Africa where we have been taught that English, French, German are marks of superiority, of intelligence", continues this 34-year-old Kikuyu.

The play "Ngaahika Ndeenda", by the famous writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, back on stage after more than forty years of prohibition in Kenya, in Nairobi, May 26, 2022 Tony KARUMBA AFP

The production of the play, played until the end of May, required a great collaboration, underlines the British director Stuart Nash.

"It wasn't so much the language that made it difficult, but rather the fact that not being Kenyan or Kikuyu, there is a cultural subtext that is not always obvious," he explains. .

The team endeavored to render the piece as authentically as possible, interspersing the English version with Swahili phrases and the performances in both languages ​​with traditional Kikuyu songs.

"Nothing has changed"

From deepening inequality to the trauma of racism, the themes tackled by the playwrights remain relevant in Kenya, and even beyond.

Almost 60 years after gaining independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya remains the site of immense inequality.

The presidential election scheduled for August will have two multimillionaires as its main candidates.

The play "Ngaahika Ndeenda", by the famous writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, back on stage after more than forty years of prohibition in Kenya, in Nairobi, May 26, 2022 Tony KARUMBA AFP

The topicality of the play escapes neither the actors, nor the director nor its author.

"I am an activist, I want to see change," says Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

"Nothing has changed", abounds Nice Githinji, who embodies the character of Wangeci, a woman in search of a better life for her daughter.

"Maybe that's why the play was banned, so that nothing changes," said the 36-year-old actress.

Nevertheless, the play's triumphant return home is in itself cause for optimism.

More than four decades after Ngugi wa Thiong'o made the decision to stop writing fiction in English, overturning "the hierarchy of language" remains at the heart of his efforts to tackle inequality.

The play "Ngaahika Ndeenda", by the famous writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, back on stage after more than forty years of prohibition in Kenya, in Nairobi, May 26, 2022 Tony KARUMBA AFP

Kenyan children are still punished by teachers when they speak their native language instead of English in school.

“It is very important to instill pride in one's language,” Ngugi wa Thiong'o believes: “I hope we can continue to fight for this world. We must not give in.”

© 2022 AFP