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Here’s Kenneth Mugabi’s theatre attempt
Kenneth Mugabi. Photo/Handout.
There has definitely been a growing appetite for fine theatre over the years. The beautiful thing is that thespians have been at hand to provide it.
From Phantom of the Opera in May to Fred Kalulanga’s The Love List featuring Hellen Lukoma, theatre has been working overtime and, in the process, winning over new audiences.
They are not anywhere near done; next month, the theatre will be home to yet another theatre classic, Joe Masteroff’s She Loves Me.
The play is the third adaptation of the 1937 play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner and the 1949 musical version In the Good Old Summertime. It inspired Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s 1998’s You’ve Got Mail.
The plot revolves around Budapest shop employees Georg and Amalia, who, despite being consistently at odds with each other at work, are unaware that each is the other’s secret pen pal met through lonely-hearts ads.
She Loves Me, produced by Yenze Theatre Conservatoire, will premiere at the National Theatre on July 19 and will go on to stage ten more shows in July.
Yenze Theatre Conservatoire has, for the past years, nurtured performing artists through comprehensive training and innovative productions.
So far, Yenze has graduated from four classes of actors.
Aganza Kisaka, the director of the production, says that there is a growing audience for musicals in Uganda, and initiatives such as Yenze are feeding the demand.
Kisaka directs She Loves Me alongside Lakuc Simeon Rugette, Amanyire Andrew and Mirian Mwase.
The team put together an amazing team of actors, such as Tayo Shonubi, Amanyire, and singer Kenneth Mugabi.
Tayo is an actor and writer who studied musical theatre in New York and Los Angeles. “When I came back to Uganda, I told Aganza we needed to do something. We did shows such as My Fair Lady... This year, I asked Aganza, We should do something with all the musical graduates, and here we are.”
In the past, Kenneth Mugabi has been part of theatre productions such as The Body Guard, though he says that he feels like this is his debut as an actor.
“When I came to Yenze, I went through a lot of training, which helped me learn and unlearn many things,” says Mugabi.
Mugabi has over the years enjoyed a successful career, launching himself as the face of soul music, and last year culminated all these efforts with a successful concert at Kampala Serena.
“I felt like I had reached my turning point; I felt like I had done something with music, and I needed to do something. I have done acting before, but the experience wasn’t so good. But I’ve enjoyed this experience, and I’m happy about this rehearsal. I’m grateful to Aganza and Tayo for bringing back what they studied, and Ken has benefited.
I’m happy about this because right now I understand what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.”
Since My Fair Lady premiered at Kampala Serena last year, there has been criticism by some scholars regarding theatre companies that produce foreign drama, considering them agents of neocolonialism.
“Ugandans love foreign content, and at times it takes so long to believe local content is worth their money. We choose to bring something that’s already good and prove to them that we can do it even with a production that big. In the future, it is easier to convince them with our productions when they know the quality we can deliver with renowned productions,” Kisaka says, adding that they are interested in developing Ugandan original musicals the same way South Africa has Sarafina.
Aganza, though, says there are challenges theatre has to deal with, including many people not knowing what they do and some thespians not being professional.
Tickets are already available at the National Theatre for Shs100,000. She Loves Me is sponsored by Ham Entreprise and Destiny Consult.
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