KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda’s veteran playwright, actor, musician and theatre director Alex Mukulu has died, marking the end of a decades-long career that helped shape the country’s theatre and performing arts landscape.
Mukulu was one of Uganda’s most influential theatre practitioners, with a career spanning more than four decades. He was renowned for using theatre, music and storytelling to explore Uganda’s political history, social challenges, culture and national identity.
Among his best-known works was 30 Years of Bananas, a landmark production that examined Uganda’s turbulent political history. Other notable works included Wounds of Africa, The Guest of Honour, Radio Mambo Bado, Excuse Me Mzungu and Journey to Self-Realisation.
His influence extended beyond Uganda. Journey to Self-Realisation was performed during the opening ceremony of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala, further cementing his reputation as a cultural ambassador.
Mukulu also authored 30 Years of Bananas, published by Oxford University Press in 1993.
After spending years away from the Ugandan stage, Mukulu made a much-anticipated return in 2024 with Kulunkalu ne Kulumbisi, an African adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The production was staged at the National Theatre in Kampala after a 17-year absence from the local theatre scene.
At the time, the Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga, hailed Mukulu for his enormous contribution to Ugandan theatre, describing his work as an important reflection of the realities of Ugandan society.
Mukulu’s body of work dealt with themes ranging from politics and history to culture, Christianity, poverty, youth and social responsibility. His productions earned him recognition as one of the country’s foremost contemporary playwrights.
His death will leave a significant void in Uganda’s cultural and performing arts community, with generations of actors, playwrights and theatre practitioners having been influenced by his work.
Further details regarding the circumstances of his death, funeral arrangements and messages of condolence are expected to emerge from his family and the Ugandan arts community.
