Jessica Kaahwa

Jessica Kaahwa

Jessica Kaahwa has been the architect of the space of coexistence and dialog in Uganda, in a very heart of Sub-Saharan Africa. Her main tool for bridge-building work is a theater, with it’s broad understanding, socially engaged, created with both professionals and amateurs, on the university as well as on the streets, sometimes in remote villages. She is working in the capital city Kampala, but also on the borderlands, she remove Rwanda and replace with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan. She speaks most Bantu languages in and around Uganda (fluent in Runyakitara), as well as Swahili, French and English.

Invited by the International Theater Institute to deliver a message for the World Theatre Day in 2011, she said: Theatre subtly permeates the human soul gripped by fear and suspicion, by altering the image of self - and opening a world of alternatives for the individual and hence the community. It can give meaning to daily realities while forestalling an uncertain future. It can engage in the politics of peoples' situations in simple straightforward ways. Because it is inclusive, theatre can present an experience capable of transcending previously held misconceptions. […]For theatre to thrive, among other art forms, we must take the bold step forward by incorporating it into daily life, dealing with critical issues of conflict and peace.

In an article on a Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka’s plays, she was stressing the crucial importance of the modern drama development as a critical tool for the democratization and good governance in Africa. She has written over 15 plays for theatre, television and radio. She has directed and starred in several of her plays. Her directing credits include “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, “Mother Courage and Her Children” by Bertolt Brecht (translated in Luganda and toured in South Africa and Washington D.C.) and she co-directed the “Soldier’s Tale” by Igor Stravinsky.

She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of Music, Dance and Drama at Makerere University, which is where she also received her Masters degree. Widely traveled, Dr. Kaahwa's undergraduate degree is from University of Benin, Nigeria where she also worked as a broadcaster with the External Service – Radio of Nigeria. Dr. Kaahwa went on to study Theatre History, Theory and Criticism at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, where she received her Ph.D. in 2001.

She has and continues to experiment with theories that expand the discourse on theatre applications. A good example is her recent experimentation with “Theatre for Personal Meaning” and “Theatre for Conflict Analysis.” She is continues to work on integrating “Processes Theory” into main-stream Applied Theatre practice. She has written n that subject a number of articles, text books and books, among them: “Gender Performance in a Refugee Camp: Prospects and Challenges”, “Refocusing of Efforts in the Teaching of Human Rights and Peace in Uganda: A Question of Communication Strategies”, “Theatre and Human Rights in Uganda”, “Theatre for Development: Crude Theatre of Kibingo Village, Bugahaya Sub-county, Hoima District”.

Her humanitarian actions also include the establishment of a centre for orphaned children on her farm in Uganda, where she spends much of her free time enabling them to regain a sense of belonging and security. She is a great believer in "teaching by doing" and has in recent years, conducted training facilitation for both international and national organizations and institutions of higher education.