By Mark Allan Karanja
Wanjiku Mbugua runs a tight ship. As the head of set design, her job is both simple and complicated in the same breath. She makes empty spaces look like real homes, offices, parking lots. You name it, she can make it. It all sounds simple enough, especially when you are watching it as the viewer. Seeing a beautiful living room, with beautiful décor and beautiful people acting out a beautiful scene. We get lost is all the beauty, all the color, all the glamor. That is great, especially for Wanjiku “Shiku” Mbugua, because it means she has done her part perfectly. It is unfathomable to some of us to think that the beautiful spaces we see on screen are actually just a façade, and at the end of the day, are empty spaces dressed up or down to suit the scene being acted out.
It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to get the finished product that we see on screen. And to this, Wanjiku says, “It is delicious fire! It is very intense, long working hours and a great deal to be done. We work on tight budgets but you learn to make due’. She gleefully crowns herself the queen of “cheap chic” as she explains, “it doesn’t have to be an expensive affair to make the space to look expensive. You can make anything look fabulous for way less and still make it work”. And work it does.
Her work speaks for itself. Having dressed sets for most of the Spielworks productions such as Lies that Bind and Block D, with her latest offerings being Sumu La Penzi, Jane and Abel and sets for the show Rush. But she is modest about her success, accrediting it to her team. “It helps to surround yourself with a skilled and dedicated team, because without such a team, great ideas remain as just that – theoretical”, she says also explaining that her thought process is always ongoing. She is constantly thinking and dreaming up new ideas, gathering inspiration from different places. She chuckles as she says that many times she has to repeat a scene when she watches movies, because she gets lost in analyzing the sets. “It is a constant learning experience, with every project being different from the previous”.
Having seen the fabulous sets done by Wanjiku and her team, it strikes one as odd that she suffers from uncertainty on many an occasion. “I work organically. Most times I don’t know how it will all turn out, but I am pleasantly surprised at the results along with everyone else”, but she is also quick to add that it is a tremendous confidence building experience.
What is even more amazing about Wanjiku, aside from her beaming talent, is the fact that she did not study, nor did she have any prior experience in the set designing field before taking up the challenge in Spielworks Media. “I used to make custom wedding cards, when I received a call asking if I was interested in a job at Spielworks media. I accepted the job” Wanjiku explains. And while there, the CEO, Dorothy Ghettuba encouraged her to take the plunge. “She asked me whether there was something I was interested in doing. I said Art, and never looked back”.
Wanjiku calls the experience “baptism by fire” given that she had no prior training, nor had she ever been on another set before in her life. All she had was a gut instinct and the confidence of the CEO who gave her the job, factors withstanding. Her first projects were Higher Learning season 3 and 4, and with that, she was inducted in the art. She has been recognized for her extraordinary work, having been nominated as “Best set Designer” in the AFRICA MAGIC VIERWERS CHOICE AWARDS, in 2013. But even this does not give her an inflated sense of self. She calls her chosen path a calling and says that she enjoys it immensely.
“I would advise anyone who does not like what they do to find their true calling. To do something they enjoy tremendously, despite the challenges they might face, as I do in my line of work”. Wanjiku promises bigger and better things with the new productions in Spielworks media. Keep it Spielworks Media to see what she will come up with next.