Editorial: Fare thee well, Alex Mukulu

Uganda’s arts sector has suffered yet another blow, in the death of playwright, actor, author, musician and director, Alex Mukulu, 72, who died at Kiruddu hospital on August 15 after a quiet battle with cancer.

Mukulu’s passing marks the end of an era for East African performing arts. For nearly five decades, the artiste regarded by many as a ‘difficult genius’ because of his bluntness, perfectionism and uncompromising stance on socio-political issues, stood as a titan of Ugandan theatre, using the stage not merely to entertain, but to confront the nation with its own history, political fractures, and cultural contradictions.

In a creative landscape often dominated by easy escapism, he chose the harder path of uncompromising intellectual gravity, establishing a legacy that reshaped Uganda’s artistic identity.

Mukulu’s most enduring contribution was his refusal to let theatre become passive. His 1992 masterpiece, 30 Years of Bananas, remains a high-water mark in political satire, offering a fearless critique of post-independence governance when Uganda was still navigating a fragile transition.

By using the lens of a Rwandan refugee (Kalekeezi) to mirror Uganda’s successive political regimes, he forced audiences to look beyond partisan lines and assess the human cost of national instability.

His standard was high art, fiercely rejecting the commercialized, purely farcical style that could be heavy on the comedy but empty on messaging and depth.

Mukulu was possibly the last of a generation of playwrights that considered the stage a sacred space for truth, a philosophy he defended so fiercely that he was known to halt live performances to reprimand inattentive audience members.

Yet, Mukulu was never detached from the global stage or the roots of his heritage. His selection to direct Journey to Self-Realization for the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) proved that his deeply localized, complex storytelling could captivate international leaders – including the late Queen of England – without losing its African soul.

Even after a long hiatus, his grand 2024 return with Kulunkalu ne Kulumbisi – a brilliant, indigenous reimagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the National Theatre – demonstrated an undiminished capacity to innovate and bridge generational divides.

Uganda has lost more than a playwright, director, and musician; it has lost a cultural conscience. Alex Mukulu proved that an artiste’s truest duty is to serve as a fearless social mirror.

As the curtains fall on his extraordinary life, the challenge now passes to the next generation of creatives to maintain the rigorous professionalism, intellectual honesty, and artistic courage that defined his monumental career.

As he is laid to rest this week – the government reportedly declined giving him a state funeral – may his music, quick wit and theatrical works never go completely silent.

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