The WANGARĨ MAATHAI edition is BACK! Too Early For Birds presents, the rerun show of the 9th Edition, first staged in April, back to theatre in September. Hoping you will burudika and makinika as they take you through, once again, the life, times, twisted controversies, seminal moments and flat out – coincidences? – and pure luck that made Kare one of Kenya’s greatest heroes, environmentalists, and original baddies.
If you’re a history buff -, you’ll notice the incredible coincidence already that the dates fall on the anniversary of the death of the late great Professor Maathai – a portentous happenstance not taken lightly. Surely it means something that this was the date – unrecognized to T.E.F.B beforehand – that everything aligned. Surely it means something that even in April, they stood on stage and at the cusp of another year where Kenyans followed in her footsteps to fight for something monumentally important. Surely – surely it all means something that the fire must be reignited again. Please don’t miss it!
There will be five shows between 25th SEPTEMBER 2026 and 27th SEPTEMBER 2026 at the 800-seater auditorium in Jain Bhavan (Shree Sthanakvasi Jain Sangh), in Nairobi, Kenya.
Show schedule: Friday: 7:00PM. Saturday: 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Sunday: 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Tickets are available here, and Early Bird Hummingbird Tickets are nearly sold out!
As one of the continent’s most honoured women and figures, Wangarĩ Maathai (that’s Prof. Dr. Wangarĩ Maathai to you) stood tall in everything she did. In her roles as a mother, professor, member of parliament, assistant minister, activist, writer, farmer and ultimately, Nobel Peace Prize winner in December of 2004, Wangarĩ Maathai epitomised the best of what Kenya could and continues to offer. And now, in 2026, after a one viral TikTok video that gave us the show title and EIGHT successful editions, exactly 15 years after her passing, we get another chance to lionise her story on stage. The show is guided by the principles that guided Wangarĩ Muta Maathai’s life, work, and legacy. She practiced her politics through her skill in her field. Art is, to us, what biology was to her.
We consider ourselves part of her children. The African People to whom she dedicated ‘The Challenge For Africa.’ As the custodians and practitioners of the Cultural Heritage she addressed in it, it is our duty to ensure Wangarĩ’s story and mission are known and continued. Taking pride in our Oral Traditions, our practice is centred in Orature, the primary form of handing down African wisdom and kwimenya (self-knowledge). We fashion storytelling to address today’s issues, the way she advised us to do with the art of spear-making.
Most of the team is from the grassroots, raised by the women who planted trees, sang, and brought down a dictatorship alongside Wangarĩ. The inspiring, bold and brazen stories told on this stage will stay faithful to these retellings, with a little bit of ancestral magic thrown in, as researched by Ngartia, Kĩmemia Macharia, Nyagũthiĩ A. Murage, Meran Randa and Mũthoni Mwangi. The show is written by Abigail Arunga, Wacuka Mũngai, and Ras Mengesha, and is edited by Ndinda Kioko. This edition is produced by Sheba Hirst, with marketing led by Mũtwĩri Njagĩ.
Join T.E.F.B as they again, and always, collectively raise the stories of our people and our ancestors to the stuff of legends.
To book exclusive events with a TICKETING PARTNER visit tickets.sanaapost.com 😎👊🏿
