Guest Post: 'Plays About Kenya Are Hard To Come By': Actor Grace Saif On Activism, Politics And Representation in A FINE IDEA

Based on ideas in radical bestselling book The Divide, A Fine Idea is a new play coming to the Arcola Theatre that questions whether international aid can really change global inequality - or just makes us feel better. Actor Grace Saif plays Kala, a Kenyan activist fighting for her country. She meets Jo, a British aid worker, who is starting to question her life's work. In this guest post, Grace talks about the ramifications of the Kenyan Finance Bill, grass-roots activism and how rare it is to see Kenyan politics on the UK stage.

Here in the UK, the Finance Bill 2024 Gen Z Protests in Kenya were a moment that came and passed by unnoticed. This is not surprising, as most people in the UK, and indeed most people in the world, are living in a day-to-day survival mode, battling the cost of living crisis or simply trying to get by.

I was following the protest coverage every day online and on the phone with my family back home in Kenya. It was a roller coaster of emotions. At first, it was exciting to see so many people from different factions of thought, economic class, profession and political affiliation – all out to protest against the introduction of the Finance Bill 2024 which would impose crushing tax hikes on even the most basic essentials.

Behind the scenes, in the lead up to these protests, a tremendous amount of grass-roots activism was at work. Various groups translated the key-points of the Finance Bill into multiple Kenyan mother tongues to ensure that any person could thoroughly understand it. Weekly online and in-person meetings were organised to encourage dialogue.

Many more people were able to understand the true ramifications of the Finance Bill on the everyday citizen due to this diligent, community-centred activism: bringing the politics directly to the people.

I found myself dreaming about how different politics could look here in the UK if the same creative, community-level work was being carried out after each UK Finance Bill. So far I've only had the fortune of having the occasional leaflet pushed through my letterbox once every election cycle.

On the 18 June 2024, civilian led protests began in earnest – not only in the capital of Nairobi but throughout the country. However, on the 20 of June, just two days into the peaceful protests, Rex Kanyike Masai, a 29-year-old who was filming the protests was shot by Kenyan police. Over the course of these protests more than 60 protestors were killed and hundreds more injured.  Despite the fact that firing live ammo at unarmed protestors is against both Kenyan law and International law, the Kenyan government largely avoided culpability and government officials have continued to be invited to meet with governments in the UK, France and the US.

But how is all of this related to A Fine Idea, a play being put on at a theatre in London? Why bring this story to a UK audience? The Global South is portrayed as outside the realms of relevance for most people here – only to be brought to our attention via the news reporting on health crises, wars, genocides, famines and spiralling debt. What does that have to do with us, beyond the point of us sending a constant stream of loans and development aid – money that some argue would be better spent on our own country?

What this play, and the book it was based on, (The Divide by Jason Hickel) tries to do is untangle that web of complexity to the level that the everyday person can understand. It demonstrates, perhaps to some people's surprise, our dependency and reliance on the labour and resources of the Global South for growth in our own economies. It also uncovers the debilitating conditions attached to those loans –  money that Kenya could use on healthcare, education or infrastructure is locked into paying debt.

And why does Kenya have this debt or need to borrow in the first place? Well, I won't spoil it here! Come and see the play to find out! My hope is that this play will encourage people to ask more and more questions, just as we have been doing ourselves in rehearsals.

Throughout this rehearsal period, we have had the opportunity to have various guests from Mathare Social Justice Centre, Oxfam Kenya, Debt Justice and more. I cannot stress enough how vital these sessions have been.

This is my first time working on a political play based around events that are still ongoing rather than historical. Additionally, plays about Kenya – let alone current Kenyan politics – are hard to come by.

It felt like an opportunity to bring my heritage, knowledge and conversations I have with my own family to the rehearsal room – to put these feelings I have about what is happening in my country into my work in a direct way.  I hope this play, or at least the themes that this play explores, becomes mainstream in our conversations.

A Fine Idea is at the Arcola Theatre from 11 June - 4 July