John Ruganda (30 May 1941 to 8 December 2007) was Uganda's best known

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Beyond his work as a playwright, Ruganda was also a professor at University of North, South Africa,

University of Nairobi , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

, and

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

. He was born in

Fort Portal Fort Portal or Kabarole is a city located in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the seat of both Kabarole District and historically of the Toro Kingdom. Location Fort Portal in Kabarole District is located approximately by road, west of Kampal ...

and died in Uganda's capital

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. Ruganda's plays "reflect the reality of the East African sociopolitical situation after independence." He was considered a shaping force of East African theater. ''The Burdens'' (1972) and ''The Floods'' (1980) have become a regular part of curriculum in literature classes.

Bibliography

Plays

* ''The Burdens'',

, Uganda, National Theatre, January 1970 * ''Black Mamba'', Kampala, 1972 * ''The Good Woman of Setzuan'', by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

, translated into Swahili by Ruganda, Nairobi, Nairobi University Players, November 1978 * ''The Floods'', Nairobi, French Cultural Centre, 1 March 1979 * ''Music without Tears'', Nairobi, Nairobi University Players, February 1982 * ''Echoes of Silence'', Nairobi, 1985 *Shreds of Tenderness

Television

* ''The Secret of the Season'', screenplay by Ruganda,

Voice of Kenya Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) is the state-run media organisation of Kenya. It broadcasts in English and Swahili, as well as in most local languages of Kenya. The corporation started its life in 1928 when Kenya was a British colony. ...

, March 1973 * ''The Floods'', screenplay by Ruganda, Voice of Kenya, April 1973 * ''The Illegitimate'', screenplay by Ruganda, Voice of Kenya, August 1982

Bibliography

Plays

Television

References

Further reading