Create
Theatre and Storytelling Programme
Theatre, storytelling, song, and creative expression
Our Create Programmme helps young people find their voice, reconnect with their rich living heritage, and most importantly, courageously and creatively lead the critical conversations about the great challenges of our time.
Some of the most important conversations are the hardest to have.
Theatre and storytelling are powerful tools to spark and sustain these difficult conversations.
This programmme trains Youth Champions more deeply in theatre, storytelling, and the performing arts, growing their confidence and leadership skills, and giving them the opportunity to contribute creatively to the content we use to launch and sustain critical conversations.
The Challenge
Conversations about family size, reproductive choices, gender roles, population growth, environmental and socio-economic pressures, and the future can be difficult to navigate.
At the same time, many communities are witnessing the gradual loss of storytelling traditions, songs, cultural practices, and opportunities for meaningful intergenerational exchange.
Creativity offers a practical way for young people to reflect on difficult issues, navigate new ways of thinking, and spread these conversations to their communities.
By reconnecting them with storytelling and performance we want to not only support young people to find their voice, but also create space for personal transformation both for participants (performers) and the communities who come to see the performances.
About the Programme
The CREATE programme is open to Level 1 and 2 Youth Champions who have shown exceptional potential in the arts. These young leaders already understand the connections between population, health, wellbeing, stewardship, and the environment, offering pathways for them to deepen their impact.
How it works
Theatre that Transforms
Selected Youth Champions take part in advanced residential, nature-immersive training where they deepen their skills in theatre, storytelling, and creative facilitation. Guided by theatre professionals, they collaborate to write and shape original performances inspired by the communities they serve. Evening storytelling circles with community elders ensure each production is rooted in local knowledge, lived experience, and cultural heritage.
We seek funding to take the best plays on the road, to perform for communities and launch important conversations through theatre.
Landmark Production: The Choice - Eng’elunoto
Our flagship community play, The Choice - Eng’elunoto, was written by a group of Youth Champions under the guidance from our creative team, playwright Lizzie Jago and director Emmanuel Ndegwa.
The play explores the realities facing young people as they navigate questions of identity, family size, responsibility, degraded environment, addiction, the ways of the past and forks in the road for the future. It was performed for the first time at the Maa Cultural Festival in front of 8000 people and then across three counties in 27 communities.
Young People find their voices
Champions develop the confidence and courage to tell their stories and launch the conversations that matter.
The impact of
our Create Programme
Indigenous wisdom is not lost
Stories, songs, and traditions are salvaged and passed down.
New Perspectives arise
Communities are encouraged to question and explore, seeing with new eyes.
New stories change the old stories
Old stories are discussed around the fire or on the community stage and young people begin to change the narrative.
Engaging in conversations around difficult issues
Complex topics become discussable through creativity and shared experience.
Participant experiences
“I have seen a big improvement in my acting. At the beginning, it was difficult to capture and remember my lines, but through continuous practice and commitment, everything became easier and more natural for me. I am now committed more than ever.”
-SIMON KAYIONI, NYEKWERI KIMINTET CONSERVANCY
“From the play to community engagement sessions, we have built courage, confidence, and stronger artistic expression.”
-SAMUEL KURESOI
“It was very fulfilling to see how happy people were and how they connected with the message we were sharing. Those moments made me feel proud of what we created together.”
-RESIATO JACKWISTER, PARDAMAT CONSERVANCY
Our Journey:
Communities We Visited with The Choice - Engelunoto on the Road
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Imbirikani Group Ranch Kajiado
14 Feb 2026
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Iremito Manyatta Kajiado
15 Feb 2026
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Dandelion Medical Centre, Risa Kajiado
15 Feb 2026
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Niceplace Foundation Kajiado
16 Feb 2026
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Namelok TTI Kajiado
17 Feb 2026
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Kiltamany Manyatta Samburu 20 Feb 2026
20 Feb 2026
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Archers Post Samburu 21 Feb 2026
21 Feb 2026
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Lolkerded Samburu
22 Feb 2026
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Uaso Girls' School Samburu
23 Feb 2026
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Lorubae Samburu
23 Feb 2026
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Lerata B Samburu
24 Feb 2026
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SERA Samburu
26 Feb 2026
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Lorubae 2 Samburu
27 Feb 2026
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Sidai Samburu
01 Mar 2026
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Arsim Samburu
01 Mar 2026
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Suguroi Samburu
02 Mar 2026
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Lchet Narok
02 Mar 2026
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Lemek Narok
06 Mar 2026
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Lemek Namunyak Girls' School Narok
08 Mar 2026
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Talek Leadership School Narok
10 Apr 2026
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Ole Namodu village-Pardamat Narok
11 Apr 2026
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Oldonyo Ringa- Pardamat Narok
12 Apr 2026
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Aitong Primary School Narok
13 Apr 2026
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Nyakweri Kimintet Narok
16 Apr 2026
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Nyakweri Oloirien Narok
| 17 Apr 2026
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Saruni Basecamp Narok
18 Apr 2026
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Wildlife Tourism College of Maasai Mara. Narok
19 Apr 2026
In its first year, Create reached several significant milestones.
Youth Champions collaborated with theatre professionals to create an original play, and deepened their skills in theatre and storytelling.
They also premiered the production at the Maa Cultural Festival, and took it across Kenya’s conservancy landscape.
The Choice-Engelunoto shown on 27 community stages and 1 large stage at the Maa Cultural Festival 2025.
27 Community stages
3,687 community members
The Choice - Engelunoto shown to over 3,687 community members on the road and over 8000 people at the Maa Cultural Festival
31 Champions trained in theater and performance for the Maa Cultural Festival The Choice - Engelunoto performance
31 Champions trained
Are you interested in becoming a Youth Champion and joining the Create Program?
If you are a young person living in one of our partner conservancies and feel called to learn, grow, and lead, we would love to hear from you.
Bring Create to Your Community
If you are an organization, community leader, faith leader, elder, or health worker who would like to bring CREATE to your community, youth group, women’s group, or church?
Contact us to learn more and to register your interest in joining us.
Have questions?
Here are answers to a few commonly asked questions about our programmes. If you don’t see the information you need, please get in touch! We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
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Theatre and storytelling is one important component of our work, but CREATE is much broader. It combines storytelling, song, creative expression, and performance to help young people develop confidence, leadership, and communication skills so they can become change-makers who are not afraid to launch difficult conversations.
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The plays and stories we tell help people ‘see with new eyes’ and consider a different outcome. All of our theater pieces and stories touch on the population, health, and environmental challenges and give an opportunity to launch conversations on these topics.
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Yes. We aim to create stories and scripts that reflect local realities, concerns, opportunities, and cultural contexts so that audiences see themselves in the conversations being explored.
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If you are invited to join a programme, training, orevent, all costs are covered and there is no charge, as all of our planned programming is vovered by donor funding. If youn would like to book our team to come to your organization or company, we charge a small fee to cover the costs of transport, materials, and staff.