Ogutu Mũraya, Sitawa Namwalie, Wanjikũ Mwawuganga & Sarah Camille

«Calls of the Hummingbird» tells the story of a little bird which acts very differently from all other animals when faced with a devastating bush fire. Knowing well that it cannot extinguish the fire all by itself, the delicate bird courageously starts fighting the flames nonetheless. When asked about its pointless action, it answers: «I give my best». Inspired by the Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental activist Wangarĩ Maathai, who often cites this fable, the author, theatremaker and storyteller Ogutu Mũraya (present at the 2018 festival with «Because I Always Feel Like Running») has created the storytelling evening «Calls of the Hummingbird» for the Theater Spektakel.

Muraya has invited three artists to tell the story of the hummingbird from their point of view: the poet and performer Sitawa Namwalie and the director Wanjikũ Mwawuganga, both from Kenya, as well as the Oslo-based slam poet Sarah Camille. Together they have created four versions of the story, into which Mũraya has infused rhythmic virtuosity and dramatic feeling. (rb)

About the Collective Listenings

Collectively listening to the radio on picnic blankets on the Landiwiese is one of the festival’s answers to the pandemic. Performers and musicians from Beirut, Nairobi, Windhoek, New York and Oslo have developed new audio-formats for summer evenings in Zürich. Two things have always characterised the Theater Spektakel: community and international diversity – both of which are presently close to impossible. And so, we have asked these artists to create projects for an audio format from afar. During these «Collective Listenings» you sit on a picnic blanket with a radio. Together with hundreds of other people, you can listen to songs and stories by the US performance artist Laurie Anderson, a moderated concert of the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila, a soundscape by the Namibian performer Nashilongweshipwe Mushaandja or «Calls of the Hummingbird» told by Ogutu Muraya and three storytellers.