/ARTS WEEKLY-THEATRE/UGANDA: Inspired by Women

By Evelyn Kiapi Reprint | | Print |

Evelyn Kiapi Matsamura

KAMPALA, Aug 19 2003 (IPS) - Uganda’s celebrated playwright and director, Charles Mulekwa, owes his success to the women who have instilled in him values that have inspired his writings.

Mulekwa has written over 10 plays, some of which have won international awards.

Mulekwa, 36, says his mother, aunts and grandmother have played a major role in shaping his work. But much of it also comes from his ability to write plays that reflect the problems in society.

Mulekwa writes about defilement, conflict and war, HIV/AIDS, female genital mutilation, as well as on harmful cultural practices. “One inspiring paragraph from anywhere could make me write a whole play,” he says.

To Mulekwa, a play should influence society. “A play where you sit and laugh and wonder why you are laughing does not please me. A play must have meaning, a message to carry across,” he says.

Mulekwa was born to a polygamous family in the eastern town of Mbale in 1966. Initially a drama teacher, he directed plays at King’s College Buddo, one of the country’s most prestigious schools, before starting writing and directing his own plays. His first scripted play, ‘The Woman in Me’, in 1990, is about a woman who insists on picking a wife for his son.

“At that time, I was intrigued by how much control some parents have over their children,” he says.

In the play, Mulekwa brings out the ‘double character’ of women, which, he says, is inherent in his mother, aunt and grandmother. Much as they respected their husbands, sometimes their influence was too strong to ignore. “They would be nice and caring, but when push came to shove, they would just knock the men out of their way,” he recalls.

‘The Woman in Me’ was successful, winning the National Script Award in 1991.

In 1993, Mulekwa wrote another play, ‘The 11th Commandment’, which also won an award. “I was waiting for a date when two women passed by, complaining about defilement. And that is how I got the idea,” he says.

The play, which is still popular, is about a 15-year-old girl who gets raped by her stepfather just because he thought she had started going out with boys. “In her stepfather’s mind, she had now started having sex. Yet when he rapes her, he finds she is still a virgin,” says Mulekwa.

The popularity of the play gave him the courage and the confidence to join the BBC Africa writing competition in 1995, something he had wanted to do since 1992. He entered ‘Nothing Against You’, a radio drama about the burden of bride price, a traditional obligation that must be settled even after the death of a spouse. “I was trying to portray how people observe social conventions and are able to exploit it.” He won the BBC African performance award for this play.

Since then, the sky has been the limit. In 1996, Mulekwa wrote ‘Hands Of My people’, a play about female genital mutilation. “The day she is circumcised, something goes wrong and the girl cannot get children. Enraged, her husband begins to abuse her. And tragedy strikes. The girl dies.”

Mulekwa is travelling to the United States for his Phd programme this month. During his 2002 Fellow at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Mulekwa met American playwright August Wilson. He was given the role of co-directing Wilson’s play ‘Jitney’ when it was brought to the National Theatre in Uganda in March this year. He transformed the play that was All-American, into a Ugandan setting, attracting crowds to watch it.

“The overall result was good. When you put up a play and people find time to come and talk to you about it, then it is a successful play. My mission now is to discover well-done plays which are not necessarily Ugandan, but which can talk to Ugandans about important issues,” he says. “My plan is to connect Africa and the rest of the world through theatre.”

“In Mulekwa’s work, life does not have to go the way it is speculated, or by the tracks built by the generation. An individual can mould it to suit him/herself. You do not have to do things the way your parents or leaders want you to do it. You can successfully choose to live your way. That is what Mulekwa is trying to say,” says Godfrey Kisiki, a lecturer at Makerere University.

Literary critic Moses Serugo describes Mulekwa’s work as ‘deep’. “He is a very good actor and playwright. And yes, he does have humour in his plays. Mulekwa is also good at localising foreign plays and giving them a local touch,” he says.

In the 1970s, during Idi Amin’s rule, Mulekwa says, it was difficult to write and the few who did so had to flee into exile. As a result, many of Uganda’s plays are not scripted. They are only acted in theatres. “I see some really good plays in Uganda that could be world standard, but they are not scripted. Many are just shown in theatres and that’s it,” he says.

Mulekwa, who works for the National Theatre of Uganda, has a 16-year-old daughter, Emma Kakai.