Nairobi, April 21 -- If Professor Wangari Maathai had been in the audience of the Too Early for Birds production titled "Wangari Maathai," one of the moments that may have resonated most deeply was the transformation of Mary Jo Muta into Wangari Muta. In her autobiography Unbowed, the late professor marks this shift as the first of many defining turning points in her life.

On stage, two actresses embodied this transition. One portrayed the younger Maathai, dressed in Western attire and a wig, leaving for the United States under the Kennedy Airlift programme. The other represented the older Maathai, returning years later with natural hair and a renewed sense of self.

As the two versions embraced, the theatre fell into a heavy silence bef...