Man to Man: Mulekwa’s ode to friendship

Man to Man is the first play Mulekwa has written in a long time, which was a result of the Tebere Arts Foundation’s artist lab.

His last offering was Shadows Have No Voice in 2001. Between 2003 and 2013, he was in the US, where he pursued a doctorate in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies.

“In between, I would return home, but there was never enough time to work,” says the playwright.

In 2005, he was in Uganda, but working on The Last King of Scotland, a project he had been part of for five years before they could start shooting. His involvement with the project started with the producer, screenwriter and the director coming to Uganda.

Working with Hollywood

Anna Borzello, then a BBC correspondent in Uganda, had advised the producer to meet Afrigo Band’s front man Moses Matovu, Alex Mukulu and Mulekwa.

Later, the screenwriter and director he had met exited the project. The producer stayed and somehow kept in touch with Mulekwa.

“I met again with the producer in the US, I had initially gone to meet (actor) Forest Whitaker because he was auditioning for the main role. That is when I first talked to them about making the film in Uganda as opposed to their preferred choice, South Africa,” he recounts.

He later worked as a cultural consultant on the film. Mulekwa is a name every person involved in Ugandan theatre knows. At least those who take their craft seriously.

He has been writing since 1991 when he was a teacher of Literature at King’s College Budo. He had helped revive the school drama scene when actor Stephen Rwangyezi ‘poached’ him.

He believed Mulekwa was wasting away in Budo, thus asked him to join him as a manager at the National Theatre. At 24, he was too young for the post thus even when he indeed joined Rwangyezi, he only ended up as an assistant to the manager.

“When I quit Budo, I gave up a three-bedroomed house and a better salary for a boy’s quarter, yet I did not have a headache leaving,” he says.

Mulekwa had ended up at the school after he had been advised by those in drama that pursuing drama professionally was a bad idea.

“I talked to a number of actors and they all told me that I needed a profession that would pay the bills, because drama did not pay well,” he says.

Writing for everyone

Mulekwa has written plays such as Between You and Me and Onyango’s Anyango, The Woman in Me, The Eleventh Commandment, and the renowned Time of Fire.

For most of these productions, he always tinkers with different feels, for instance, some are light and easy to digest, for others it takes more than laughs. They are deep.

Using an analogy of juice and whisky, some of his plays are juice, while others are a whisky shot.

Onyango’s Anyango, was for instance, a play about infidelity - in the plot, the husband wanted his cheating wife to commit suicide. The one-hour play, he says, was inspired by a gossip story published by Daily Monitor, Husband Punches Family Priest.

Between You and Me follows a father who rents his house to a mzungu visitor. When a mad woman shows up with a dead child, things turn upside down, leaving the audience asking who was really mad.

Mulekwa says art and theatre most of the time need to impact the audience.

“I think if you are asking somebody to leave what they are doing to come and watch the show, there should be a, so what? Your play must cause debate and questions. It is the responsibility of artists,” he says.

Let’s talk Man to Man

His new play Man to Man explores the different types of friendships, at the same time paying tribute to teaching, a profession that nurtured Mulekwa.

The storyline subtly looks at the imbalances between primary and secondary school teachers.

“Teachers have put me in order very many times, and I have spent the rest of my life teaching other people,” he says.

Directed by Amelia Mbotto Kyaka, the play navigates different dynamics of friendship such as social, religious, and political.

Through the multi-religious couple of a Catholic man, Job, and a Muslim woman, Rukia, we learn about two friends who became lovers, thanks to their shared profession as teachers.

But over the years, even with a shared love for teaching, their relationship at home seems to have gone from a would-be marriage to a toxic union. Regardless, they stay together.

Mulekwa requested to have Kyaka direct the play after watching Merchant of Venice, a play she directed in 2022. The production that got rave reviews for its direction, tone, and actor’s delivery, is just one of the many that Kyaka has been part of over the years.

She says while casting for the play, they were looking for people who were talented and above all, actors who were not afraid to tell and experience the multi-layers of the story.

“If you were picked up as an actor, you needed to be ready to have crucial conversations with the script,” she says.

She notes that there are many people who came to read the play, but somehow opted out because they considered the themes too heavy at times.

The play is set in three crucial locations, the home, the bar, and an interrogation room;  the most ridiculous of them is the bar. Thighs Bar, they call it, a name that gets wives insecure about the waitresses and the owner, a woman simply referred to as Black.

But, there is more that goes into the bar than meets the eye; this is where friends meet to pay debts, catch up, joke, and talk about their frustrations, especially as teachers.

But it is also a space with multifaceted people; thus, it’s a joint where one can easily be betrayed by those they trust.

Kyaka says the characters are dedicated to Thighs because, for many of them, it is more than a bar.

Man to Man premiered at the Ndere Cultural Centre at the end of July. However, other shows moved to the National Theatre.

The show features a stellar cast, including Bryan Powers Byamukama (Between Us), Amon Nuwamanya (The Kojja), and Gladys Oyenbot (The Girl in The Yellow Jumper.