Nyathira Njomo: Daughter follows veteran father's footsteps in theatre

It was during a staging of Gikuyu na Mumbi at the Kenya National Theatre (KNT) in April that retired theatre veteran Njomo wa Nyathira was moved to tears. On stage was Nyathira Njomo, his daughter, portraying the role of Wamuyu in the historical musical, which she was also stage-managing.

He watched her act on stage for the first time. By the end of the production, he was in tears. He walked onto the stage as the cast took their bow and hugged her.

“I sat down to watch my daughter perform. I shed tears. I was proud. I told her she had performed well. That is where I started too,” he says.

The KNT holds more special memories for the two. This was the same stage where Njomo’s theatre journey began in 2002, and now it is where Nyathira is crafting her path as an actor and stage manager with Kwa Ndego Productions.

It was also here that she watched her father’s performance in the Kikuyu play Nyoori Momori at the KNT in 2014 for the first time as a child.

Her earliest encounter with theatre was attending auditions and rehearsals as a child at the main stage. Njomo used to take her to rehearsals and leave her backstage with the actors while he performed.

“I always felt at home. It was fun but also overwhelming, for I knew I had big shoes to fill. Growing up in theatre, people assumed that I would be a great performer too,” she recalls.

At eight years old, she started auditioning at the KNT and Alliance Française Nairobi, but there weren’t many children's roles at the time.

Therefore, she didn’t fully join theatre until after secondary school. Then she started as a stage manager at Andu A Mumbi Production and in an acting role in the Uradi drama film by Kikwetu Productions in 2020. Her decision to join the theatre did not come as a surprise, but it did come with mixed feelings for her father.

“It was a mixed reaction. I was happy she followed in my footsteps. But I would not want her to rely only on theatre. I want her to do theatre and something else because of the many industry challenges,” he says.

Even with his concerns, he is supportive of her passion.

“She deeply loves theatre. I think she loves what I did. I support her fully, but I also encourage her to explore other opportunities,” he says.

She believes that he played a big role in her decision to enter the theatre. When he took her to rehearsals, he was planting a seed. She knew from a young age that theatre is a place for her dreams, but she didn’t know how.

Still, she has been intentional about establishing her unique identity. In her early theatre years, she told him that she wouldn't be performing set books even if it worked for him.

Nyathira, who is in her third year in theatre, has worked with her father in several productions like Theca Nja, Ndonyia Ngunde, Ceha Githaka, Horia Mwaki, Ríkia Ume, Hútia Kahaco, Hiti Ng'eni, and Haka Maguta as stage manager while he was the director. She stage-changed in Sarafina! as part of The Blacks, a theatre technical production crew.

Now, she is stage-managing for a Kikuyu stand-up comedy, Maisha No Maya, by Nyce Wanjeri, slated for June 27 at the KNT.

She says she doesn’t feel the need to live up to her father’s achievements. She admits that her initial desire to work behind the curtains was motivated by distancing herself from his directing and acting spotlight.

“I don’t want people to say that I’m here because of my father’s influences. I don’t want them to say that he cleared the way for me, and that’s why I wanted to work behind the curtains, but then acting happened,” she says.

She is also taking a different approach to engaging with audiences. She notes that while her father’s generation went to the street to give out flyers, she believes in staying at home and promoting productions online.

Though she is on her own path, she frequently meets and works with people who have worked with her father. Those encounters remind her of his legacy while she is adamantly creating a name for herself, like knocking on producers’ doors.

One of her most defining inspirations was seeing the productions her father was part of, Hiuria Muiko with Fanaka Arts and Theca Nja with Andu A Mumbi Production, win Best Kikwetu Production in 2022 and 2025, respectively, at the Kenya Theatre Awards.

“The wins and when he got his current job as a radio presenter immensely motivated me. I have seen him grow from doing free work to getting paid opportunities. That inspired me,” she says.

As a parent and mentor, Njomo has passed on lessons of discipline, consistency, patience, confidence, time management, and research while encouraging her to do theatre on her terms, not exactly how he did it in his time. The relationship between father and mentor is one he handles deliberately.

As a young woman in the industry, he is keen to introduce herself to the right people to seek mentorship and guidance from outside of his own.

“When we are in theatre, I tell her I’m not her father but her mentor. I can only mentor her so much. I choose other artists that I know well to guide her, like Nyce Wanjeri. I know the industry, but I don’t want to mix parenthood into it,” he says.

Njomo comes from an artistic family, but they weren’t introduced to theatre. His mother, Elizabeth Njomo, aunts, uncles and grandfather are all comedians in their own right, cracking jokes at home.

“I would want her to carry my legacy and the family’s artistic gift. Still, I don’t want her to get opportunities for being my daughter. I want her to get them because of her abilities. Nyathira will fly the Njomo flag high to the end,” he says.

This Father’s Day, Nyathira is grateful to her father for his support.

“I want to thank him for giving me the chance to join theatre. I hope to get awards and jobs. I want to succeed in my own right. Just like he did, I hope to show the way to my younger sisters if they show interest,” she expresses.