The world will never forget the horror that came with World War 1, which 20 years later, was followed by World war 2. The funereal atmosphere of heavy billowy smoke, gun shots, blades, detonators, soldiers marred with blood and mud; the falling of 10 million soldiers and 7 million civilians globally, isn't something to forget soon or smile about.
Of the global statistics, 750,000 people whose souls death struck and loosened were East Africans, a reason Kenya is fully immersed into this month's global events to commemorate 100 years since World War 1 ended.
As part of the commemorations, Lest We Forget, a stage play devised and directed by Davina Leonard was performed yesterday at Alliance Francaise, Nairobi.
MORE: How Kenya Was Involved in World War 1 + Remembrance Events
Davina Leonard (A Man Like You, Every Brilliant Thing), a professional actress and recent Kalasha Awards nominee under five categories, graced the stage with an exceptionally brilliant performance alongside another theatre legend, John-Sibi Okumu (Constellations). The latter is a renown writer, actor, director and journalist.
The stage play stretched its hands and reached for hearts, stirring emotions through recounting words from various poetry and prose written by people who experienced the war first-hand, among them extracts from My Reminiscence of East Africa by Gen. von Lettow-Vorbeck, In Memoriam by E.A. Mackintosh, and Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon.
After the riveting and exhilarating performance replete with history, the two master performers encouraged the world to look back to the tears, blood and wailings of the past, learn from them and never let another war tear humanity apart like the Great War.
During the performance, the audience wore pinned remembrance poppies, an artificial flower used to remember the military soldiers who fell in the war.
MORE: This Incredibly Moving Poem Will Immerse You Into the Horrors of War