Paita Bakari marks 10 years in poetry with intimate stage production

Paita Bakari’s creativity den is filled with pens, loose sheets of paper, notebooks and unfinished ideas. Some of the poems are rough sketches, while others are only a few lines and are complete as they are.

The poet and spoken word artist from Mombasa recreates this setting in The Lion’s Den Pen, a conceptual poetry performance that will be staged at the Little Theatre Club in Mombasa on August 7.

Produced by his long-time collaborator Martina Ayoro, the show explores the poems and the creative process behind them.

For the past decade, Bakari has built a career turning life experiences into poetry. As he marks 10 years in the craft, he is letting audiences have a peek into space where those poetry pieces are born.

He recalls this relationship with paper and writing back to his childhood. His mother never threw away scraps of paper. He still keeps lots of pens and paper. The show’s title portrays how he views himself as an artist.

The idea behind The Lion’s Den Pen is the place where a poet creates, writes and rehearses. Every artist has a space where they feel comfortable, and that's what the den represents.

“The lion is the king of the jungle, and every time I create, I feel like I’m the king of my space. I protect that space. Wherever I create becomes my den. My only weapon is a pen. The pen creates narratives and worlds,” he says.

Sometimes, he says, he thinks a piece is incomplete, but after a while he realises that those one or two stanzas are complete as they are. He adds that not every idea needs to be a full poem; sometimes inspiration comes, reveals what it has to reveal, and that’s the end of it.  

He explains that while commissioned work needs research and a complete story, poems sparked by personal inspiration are created briefly. Those fragments, however, may find their way into commissioned works.

The performance intends to showcase poetry and reveal what audiences rarely see.

“People only see the finished product. They don't understand the work, the challenges and everything that happens behind the scenes before a production comes together. I want them to experience that,” he says.

The theme follows the struggles of a young man trying to build a life for himself while navigating responsibilities such as family expectations, relationships and financial pressures.

The production is made up of 10 interconnected pieces that tell a single story. They are divided into two collections: Bibi Nitafutie Bibi ("Grandmother, Find Me a Wife"), comprising four pieces, and Eight Siblings, a six-part sequence.

Bakari says he deliberately invited fellow creatives to critique the work before its premiere. He reveals that what has helped him grow over the last 10 years is allowing people into his creative space.

“Our stories become everyone's stories because others add their own perspectives. Before staging the show, I presented it to a small group for feedback, and their insights helped,” he says.

He describes the performance as an opportunity for audiences to peek into his creative world while sharing the journey behind each piece. He notes that people think creatives are always available since they don’t see what they do as work.

However, a creative workspace is active; he could be rehearsing, sketching or creating a performance at any moment. Like any workplace, he adds, the creative space also faces interruptions.

“You wouldn't walk into someone's office and interrupt them during working hours, but creatives constantly deal with distractions while trying to create,” he says.

Bakari is the creative director of Jukwaa Arts Productions and has worked with organisations including Alliance Française Mombasa, Little Theatre Club, Swahili Pot Hub and Jukwaa Arts in Mombasa. Originally from Mazeras, he says his artistic journey has been filled with challenges and milestones.

He credits mentors including Jukwaa Arts Production founder Caroline Ngorobi and legendary actor and director Hillary Namanje for helping influence his career and has also collaborated with fellow poet Masufuria.

He hopes to expand his work through international collaborations. This year he is hosting Tanzanian poet Mr Romantic after previously performing at the Bagamoyo International Festival in Dar es Salaam and recently returning to Tanzania for the Fiz and Friends Festival with Masufuria.

He also plans to stage The Lion's Den Pen twice a year as part of a growing portfolio of original productions. While performances are staged nearly every day, he says that artists face challenges, like limited performance spaces and resources.

“The challenge is making every show unique while building a culture where audiences actively support local productions. That's why we're investing more in marketing and sales so that attending live performances is part of the culture,” he says.