Performing Sketches in Kinyarwanda
Senior 1 · Music
Performing Sketches in Kinyarwanda
Lesson 2 of 4
25 min
Most sketches that fail do so before the first rehearsal: the idea was too big, the characters were unclear, or nobody knew how it would end. Composing a sketch means planning it step by step, so that by the time you write the first line you know exactly where it is going. In this lesson you will follow the S1 group from the last lesson as they compose their sketch, Akabando k'Iminsi.
| Decision | What the group chose |
|---|---|
| Theme (insanganyamatsiko) | saving money (kuzigama, "to save") |
| Message (ubutumwa) | "Save a little every day, and you will be ready when you need it." |
| Characters | KEZA, 13, in S1: calm and careful; puts a 100-franc coin in a small wooden box every school day. GATETE, 13, her classmate and friend: cheerful and generous; spends everything at once. MWARIMU UWASE, their class teacher: brisk and kind. |
| Setting | the school compound at break time; the second scene two weeks later, in the same place |
| Title (umutwe) | Akabando k'Iminsi, taken from the proverb, so the audience recognises the idea at once |
Like a composition in your Kinyarwanda lessons, a sketch has three parts: intangiriro (the beginning), igihimba (the middle, or body) and umusozo (the ending). The tension follows the same shape as the plot pyramid you met in the unit on drama: low at the start, highest at the climax, settled at the end.
A careful writer checks that the story makes sense. Keza has saved 100 Frw on each of 20 school days: 20 × 100 Frw = 2,000 Frw. The trip is next month, so if Gatete saves 100 Frw every school day from now on, he will also have 2,000 Frw in time. The happy ending is believable.
Now that you have seen a plan, here are the steps the group followed. They work for any sketch.
Steps 1 to 5 are the plan; the next lesson covers writing the script.
Tip
Plan on half a page. Theme, message, characters, setting and the three parts. If you can fill in all five on half a page, you are ready to write; if you cannot, the idea is still too big or too vague.
Write a one-sentence message for a sketch on the theme "washing hands at the school tap".
Solution (one possibility): "Wash your hands with soap before you eat, every single time." Any single, clear sentence about one behaviour is correct.
A group's plan has seven characters and scenes at school, at the market, at home and on a bus. What would you advise?
Solution: cut the cast to between two and five characters and use one or two settings, for example only the school and the home. A sketch has time for one situation, not four.
Plan the three parts of a sketch on the proverb Ifuni ibagara ubucuti ni akarenge (friendships last when you visit).
Solution (one possibility): Intangiriro: Mutesi notices that her best friend Uwase has been absent all week, but everyone is too busy to ask why. Igihimba: Mutesi hears that Uwase is sick at home and lonely; she has a lot of homework and hesitates. Climax: she closes her books and decides to go. Umusozo: the visit cheers Uwase up, the two friends do the homework together at Uwase's bedside, and they say the proverb to the audience.
Why is Akabando k'Iminsi a good title for the group's sketch?
Solution: it is short, the audience knows the proverb, and it points to the message without giving away the story.
Remember
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa. The proverbs are traditional Kinyarwanda sayings in the public domain. The plan of Akabando k'Iminsi, the three-part diagram and the practice are original Ganzaa material.
