NAKURU, Kenya, Apr 10 – Controversy marred the Kenya Schools and Colleges National Drama and Film Festival on Thursday after members of the public and journalists were blocked from accessing the festival venue at Kirobon Girls High School, where Butere Girls High School was scheduled to perform its highly anticipated play Echoes of War.

The play, which delves into themes of governance and the 2024 Gen Z-led protests, has drawn considerable attention and scrutiny.

On Day 4 of the festival, fresh restrictions were introduced, including a blanket ban on photography, video recording, and live streaming of performances—halting coverage that had been ongoing since the festival began.

“There will be no audience, no video, no photography, and no shooting at all,” a source involved in covering the event told Citizen Digital. “Even KICD won’t stream it live. All cameras, including those for local production partners, have been barred.”

Echoes of War was initially disqualified from the Western Region Drama Festivals under unclear circumstances, but a High Court ruling later overturned the decision and ordered its inclusion in the national festival lineup.

The play was scheduled for performance at 6:15 p.m, but delays saw the students access the venue around 7:30 p.m.

Scriptwriter and former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, who penned the production, was blocked from entering the school for final rehearsals on Wednesday.

By Thursday evening, he claimed police had surrounded his vehicle and threatened him with arrest.

At around 9 p.m., officers lobbed teargas canisters to disperse journalists who had camped outside the school gate to cover the unfolding standoff.

Despite the court’s intervention and public interest in the performance, the heavy-handed restrictions have cast a shadow over the festival, raising questions about censorship and freedom of expression in educational spaces.