Performing the Legacy of War in Uganda By Charles Mulekwa Ph. D., Brown University, 2012 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island May, 2012 © Copyright 2012 by Charles Mulekwa Dedication To the memory of My maternal grandmother Joyce Kakai (1929-1998) And My paternal grandmother Mariam Mutonyi (19-2011) iv This Dissertation by Charles Mulekwa is accepted in its present form by the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date_______ _________________________________ Prof. Emeritus John Emigh, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate Council Date________ ___________________________________ Prof. Barrymore Bogues Date________ ___________________________________ Prof. Olakunle George Date________ ____________________________________ Prof. Patricia Ybarra Approved by the Graduate Council Date________ ____________________________________ Dean Peter M. Weber v Mulekwa Charles Mulekwa is from Mbale, Uganda and has been practicing theatre in his homeland in different roles since his Secondary School days in 1983. He attended Nkozi National Teacher‘s College between 1988-1990, taught at King‘s College Buddo between 1990-1992, and worked at the National Theatre from 1992 - 2003. He attended: the Royal Court Theatre, Royal National Theatre (UK); Sundance Theatre Lab, New York Theatre Workshop, and Iowa International Writers Program (US); and worked on a number of radio plays with the BBC African Performance and World Service programs. In 1998, the British Council and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation granted him a joint scholarship for an MA in Playwriting at Birmingham University, where he wrote the play A Time of Fire. In 2003 he earned a Ford Foundation International Fellowship and joined Brown University, where he studied for a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies resulting into the dissertation, Performing the Legacy of War in Uganda. In 2005 he served as the Ugandan consultant to the director of the movie about Idi Amin, The Last King of Scotland. In 2007, alongside other African playwrights from Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Ghana, he wrote the Ugandan episode of the BBC World Service radio drama, Free Juice for All, to mark Ghana‘s 50th anniversary of Independence. He wrote Chapter 2. ―Theatre, War, and Peace in Uganda‖ in Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict, Volume I: Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence, Edited by Cynthia Cohen, Roberto Gutierrez, and Polly Walker (Oakland: New Village Press, 2011). Abstract: Abstract of “Performing the Legacy of War in Uganda” by Charles Mulekwa, Ph. D., Brown University, May 2012. This Dissertation explores the interaction of performance and warfare in the framework of colonial and post-colonial times. The issues in question unfold in relationship with political history, but are in fact bound by Ugandan playwriting, theatre, and performance practices, with a focus on 1962-2010. Although a number of dramatists draw from the colonial encounter for present day cultural expression, syncretism is at the heart of self-definition in post-colonial Ugandan society. The thesis examines the works of a range of home-bred, as well as Diaspora Ugandan dramatists such as Sam Okello, Kenneth Kimuli, Okot p‘Bitek, Byron Kawadwa, John Ruganda, George Seremba, Rose Mbowa, Alex Mukulu, and Ntare Mwine to argue that since Independence from British rule, Uganda has been hostage to a legacy of war – a post-colonial nation spiraling in a state of ruthless power contestations, with violence of various degrees. Inevitably, the history informs many of the plays and the plays become a part of the history. The dramatic works studied embody the hard realities as well as subjunctive version of post-colonial Ugandan cultural and political aspirations. Theoretical projects of African as well as European/Western thinking inform the story, but ultimately it focuses on Ugandan society: 1962-2010. The narrative and analysis of content found in this dissertation represents my rendezvous with Ugandan performance vis a vis the legacy of war. The narrative will explore how performance articulates war and warfare engages with performance on a historical, political and cultural scale. The ―emic‖ and ―etic‖ strands of thought guide the analysis; the former refers to insider and the latter outsider information/response/action/ reaction. Most of the plays are ―emic‖ and a fair amount of the theory is ―etic.‖ Each chapter represents a different time-frame in Ugandan political history, in terms of (the ever shifting) paradigms of playwriting, theatre, and performance. vii Preface SURPRISE! Yelled the youthful lot of Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) drama wing one day, in 2003. These young theatre practitioners and I had worked on a number of fruitful plays together—The Web, My Secret, You Are That Man—with me doing the dramaturgical work, without having an idea that is what it was called, technically. Each year, they wrote a play, and I reflected their ideas back to them in rehearsal, questioned their choices during breaks, and challenged their vision when need be. I argued with them that repeating bible stories on stage was not a productive thing. What might work would be to turn bible stories into contemporary tales. This is something I had done with different groups over the years, and it seems the surprise event was a mark of how far our collaboration had come with this group. I was due to leave Uganda soon for PhD studies. They had forged a plot to say goodbye, and a good job of it was. We talked as never before. They asked some very bold questions about drama and theatre in Uganda. One question kept returning: ―why have you not written about these things?‖ My reply: ―I am going to study how to do that.‖ The day came, and I left National Theatre Uganda for Brown University, USA intent on the role of women in East African theatre. But owing to unforeseen circumstances, that interest got displaced. I then opted to write about the interweaving of music, dance, and drama in Uganda. However, with the prospectus written and all, one day in 2005 I saw a documentary about the war in Northern Uganda. The war was about two-decades old at that point but hardly known in Uganda, and beyond. How could that be so? Post-Independence Uganda was over four decades old, and a leading columnist had claimed that there were in total about only 10 years when Uganda had not been at war. If so, why was that the case? And why were children—who had little to do with the murky Ugandan political history—apparently the major victims? And why was the story of war, repetitive in nature, always told for us on the world stage with varying notions of little or no agency on our part? These questions and more bothered me, creating in me some seriously conflicting feelings. But in the process clarity of purpose took hold: this war, this incessant warfare, was the most profound problem of my existence. That is not to say this amounts to a story about me. This is a story of my country. This is a story of a problem Ugandans have had to wrestle with from time to time. This is a story of what I deem to be the legacy of war in Uganda. This is a story I set out to explore in terms of my way of being, that is, engagement with drama, theatre, playwriting, and performance activity over the years. This is a story in which I play the roles of investigator, observer, narrator, and participant. This is a story of how performance articulates war and how war engages with performance in Ugandan society on a historical, political, and cultural scale. ix Acknowledgements African people have a blessing: may your journey be rough. To incur the blessing took the whole village, and beyond. But, any shortcomings are my doing. I want to thank endlessly three key individuals without whom I would not have had enough in me to go to the journey‘s end: my invaluable academic advisor, dissertation director, and friend, Professor John Emigh; my longtime and rare friend, Willy Ewal; plus a steady friend, Dr. Janice Riley. The trio, doing so from different points of the world (Providence, Arizona and Hong Kong) did the heavy lifting of my spirit and refused to put it down to the very end of the journey. No amount of thanks measures up to the individual input of these persons in terms of financial aspects, general commitment to the journey and an unwavering belief in the quest. A great deal of thanks to the dissertation committee members, Patricia Ybarra, Olakunle George and Barrymore Anthony Bogues: my gratitude always for the different questions, insights, inspiration, encouragement, challenge and guidance in fulfillment of the mission. I thank also Brown University Professors Rebecca Schneider and Spencer Golub; Librarian Ned Quist for technical advice; and I thank, specially, Professors Paula Vogel, Lina Fruzzetti, Carol Maison, and Kay Warren, for friendship and unforgettable ideas about academics and life questions. I hold immense gratitude to the spirit of the late Masha Z. West, who ―opened the door‖ for me into Africana Department, rendering me a product of two departments (Theater and Performance Studies and Africana Department). In the latter department I met Anani Dzidzienyo and Ama Ata Aidoo with whom I shared many comparative conversations about West and East Africa in light of colonial and postcolonial aspects, which shaped a lot of my thinking. Besides being generally supportive; Corey Walker, Karen Baxter and Elmore-Terry Morgan opened my eyes about the African American experience; Paget Henry and Teodoros Kiros lit the fuse of Africana Philosophy and consciousness, while Tricia Rose and Ekweume Michael Thelwell not only inspired me in the line of teaching, but also went the extra mile to intervene in, and ease my funding situation.