East African Popular Music Performance and Theatre

The study explores Ugandan Popular Music Performance and Theatre as hybrid practices inspired by indigenous African, Western and Latin American styles. It investigates the influences of cultural, political factors, and HIV/AIDS epidemic on performative theatrical practices and reception among local audiences. It identifies certain representative performances (folksongs, recitations, 'Kadongo Kamu', musical plays and dramatic sketches) and illustrates how opportunities and inspirations offered by postcoliniality/globalisation can change the nature of performance and theatre.


The study includes an examination of the activities and output of selected individual performers and performing groups. It offers an analysis of the processes of performance and the various ways through which African indigenous and traditionally-inspired genres and styles have come to play a vital role in contemporary developments in popular music performance, and in the lives of Ugandans today. The study shows that Ugandan urban musical theatre, an important aspect of popular entertainment, is more appealing because the performances are similar to the tradition of indigenous travelling musicians of the countryside.


The study does not depended on Western performance theory solely but draws on African ways of reading, understanding, and interpreting popular music performance. It pays particular attention to the association of popular music theatre with political liberation, social and cultural change, and health education. The study will be of interest to scholars interested in African performance theory and theatre practice, and musicologists. It is hoped that it will contribute to African performance pedagogy, and the development of more research and study in East African popular music theatre.