Resistance and Politics in Contemporary East African Theatre

Contemporary Uganda and other East African states are connected by the experience of Idi Amin's tyranny, rapacious and murderous regime, and the latter second Uganda Peoples Congress government, that forced Ugandans to go into exile and initiate armed struggles from Kenya and Tanzania to oust his government. Because of these experiences of disappearances, torture, murder and war, issues of identity, politics and resistance are significant concerns for East African dramatists. Resistance and Politics in Contemporary East African Theatre demonstrates the significant role of theatre in resisting tyranny and forging a post-colonial national identity. In its engaging analysis of an important period of theatre, the book explores key moments while considering the specific practice of individual artists and groups that provoke differing experiences and performance practices. Selected examples range from early post-colonial plays reflecting the resistance to the rise of tyranny, torture and dictatorships, to more recent works that address situations involving struggles for social justice and the cult personality in political leaders. Resistance and Politics in Contemporary East African Theatre offers a new vision of Ugandan theatre as a performative space, a site where new aesthetics, forms, multiple voices, and identities emerge.


Samuel Kasule studied English/Performing Arts at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, Theatre Studies at Leeds University, and holds a Ph. D in Theatre Studies from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. He has taught at Makerere University, Kampala, is a Reader in Postcolonial Theatre and Performance and Deputy Director of the Centre for Identity, Conflict and Identity at the University of Derby, United Kingdom. Dr. Kasule has published extensively on African and Black British drama in journals such as Journal of Popular Culture, African Performance Review, Africa Theatre and Cahiers de Musiques Traditionelles :Nouveaux Enjeux. He has contributed chapters in many books.