From Peke Yangu to Dependency

Generative AI, Algorithmic culture and the Transformation of Theatre Practice in Eldoret

Abstract

This paper examines how generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and algorithmic culture have reshaped theatre practice in Eldoret, Kenya. Theatre production in the town has for long benefited from a Peke Yangu model, where the producer is the writer, director, technician, designer, marketer and actor in his own production, notes the paper. This model has been in vogue, and is a necessity, in response to a dearth in theatre training and technical infrastructure within Eldoret.

Algorithmic culture helps practitioners read audience preferences by mirroring trends circulating in social media, while generative AI makes it possible to produce scripts, posters, and other promotional materials quicker and at lower cost, allowing small groups to imitate popular forms and compete with larger companies, presumably from bigger cities like Nairobi. Consequently, this paper demonstrates that these gains come with significant costs, biggest among them, reduced production value, and cultural relevance. Using "My Robot Brother", a children’s play recently performed at the Kenya National Theatre, by the 64 Theatre Production house from Eldoret, about a boy and a sentient robot, the paper demonstrates that the use of algorithmic culture and generative AI is not totally misplaced. Younger audiences already familiar with AI respond with both fascination and disappointment, to the performance of the character of the robot. This reveals a meta-modern oscillation between acceptance and critique.