In 1971, the play Olkirkenyi, written by Irish-language poet & author Brian Ó Maoileoin, together with his students at Olkejuado Secondary School (in the Rift Valley Province) where he taught for three years, became the first indigenous play to win the National Drama Festival at the Kenya National Theatre (KNT).
The play, a love story set in the bush, written in Kiswahili and performed by the students of Olkejuado Secondary School, is the first evidence of Kenyan children participating in the festival.
Brian Ó Maoileoin thought it was absurd that there never had been a play in one of the native languages of the people performed in the Drama Festival.
After Olkirkenyi won the National Schools Drama Festival, teachers and interested scriptwriters wrote further plays about issues affecting Kenyans; politics was a common theme.
This was further observed in the lack of support in the teacher training colleges (TTCs), which did little in preparing the student-teachers to be drama directors in the schools.
This was particularly important because it enabled those schools that did not have a teacher or student who could write and direct a play for them to have an alternative form, which they would use to gain participation into the festival.
After the festival, the adjudicators, led by Micere Mugo, fled the country through Uganda when they were told the state organs were looking for them.
In 1997, the festival organisation added the narrative derived from the African storytelling mode to allow students to express themselves while being conscious of their changing cultural environs.
Between 2012 and 2016, the national drama committee has included stand up comedy, modern dance, mime and film in response to the demands of the young Kenyan entertainment industry.