A powerful retelling of the Kikuyu origin story has taken centre stage in Nairobi, as Gìkùyù na Mumbi opens at the Kenya National Theatre, blending music, culture and oral tradition to reintroduce audiences to one of Kenya’s most enduring narratives.

In the piece by Kwa Ndego Productions, Gìkùyù (Nellex Nderitu) is introduced as he is placed on earth by Mwene Nyaga (translated as ‘God’). He is the first person to walk on earth, alone in what is the Kikuyu’s version of the Garden of Eden, known as Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga, in solitude and in awe of the sacred trees around him.

God then reveals his mate, Mumbi.

Their relationship starts off with a youthful excitement for seeing a human being who looks like him. The couple get ten daughters with distinct traits, not nine, as it is commonly believed.

In the Kikuyu language’s counting system, there is no number ten, which is why people believe they were nine. The tenth daughter is Wamuyu.

The musical depicts the Kikuyu community as both patriarchal and matrilineal. The ten clans are named after the daughters, who get husbands, and then children whose names become clans.

Nderitu says the story shows the balance of men and women that exists in the Kikuyu community.

“In my relationship with Mumbi, there exists order in how things are done. There are things that I do with my daughters, and she does other things with our daughters,” he says.

They researched Kikuyu oral traditions and cultural stories from the older people around them, adding that there is power in telling your own stories.

“Some of the stories that we hear are distorted or incomplete because of colonialism, and we are now telling it ourselves,” he says.

 Ann Wanjiku Kabata, who plays Mumbi, describes her as calm, feminine, and bold, a woman who doesn’t stand intimidation and shows direction to her daughters.

“I am the woman that people, including my daughters, emulate, and I stop anything that doesn’t portray our traditions in a proper manner,” she says.

 She is also a warm, loving companion to Gìkùyù and shows him direction. The production, she says, shows the respect men have for women.

In the modern world, she says, women have a say and learn what men are doing. In the traditional context, gender roles were there not because women were not able to do certain responsibilities but because it showed the masculinity of men and the femininity of women, which led to a lack of information for women on duties taken care of by men.

“Women ended up not knowing what men do. But when you know something, you embrace it with a lot of confidence and power,” she says.

The production features seasonal traditional songs that have long existed as part of identity and ancestry. It uses traditional percussion and call-and-response structures familiar in Kikuyu music. Contemporary music and chants are as well featured to enhance the mood of the performance.

Music director Andrew Tumbo says music and dialogue were intricately balanced depending on need and story clarity.

“When the emotion needs to rise, we play music. When the story needs clarity, music steps back and supports it. It is always a balance between voice and sound,” he says.

He says the main challenge was being authentic while intriguing the audience. It is resolved by centering traditional sound first, then building into arrangement and composition.

Director Anthony Ndung’u says he approached Gìkùyù na Mumbi as a true story that happened.

“My approach was not treating it as mythology but as memory because we believe in it. It is our origin story. What was born out of that is what we live by,” he says.

Even though he aims to depict a true story, some aspects were introduced for dramatic purposes, such as changing the sequence of events while being factual.

He says the focus was telling a story that contextualises what happens currently such as how women have risen, and how the Kikuyu community is matriarchal.

“Those who will come to watch it already understand our community. The issues we are addressing is important to everyone in the current society regardless of gender and responsibilities,” Ndung’u says.