Theatre in the traditional sense is very popular in Nairobi. There is a National Theatre, and also several small dramatic companies. Probably the best known are the Phoenix Players. In Kenya, theatre is commonly used as a form of social education.

Short dramatic presentations are often used in schools and public meetings to give meaning to lessons, campaigns and rallies. Plays tend to be local production of foreign plays, and there is a definite tendency towards broad comedy. Locally written plays are becoming more and more common, often social or political satires or domestic farces.

Kenyans are great fans of satire and broad comedy. Stand up comedy, often in the form of group sketches or parodies, are very popular. An extremely popular comedy group, called Redykyulass became extremely popular, and appeared in a weekly television program performing a mixture of social and political satire.