Wycliffe Kiyingi

Wycliffe Kiyingi
Born Wycliffe Kiyingi
1929
Uganda
Died 15 November 2014
Occupation Playwright
Nationality Ugandan
Alma mater King's College Budo
Notable works Gwosussa emmwanyi

Wycliffe Kiyingi was a Ugandan playwright, whose plays influenced the free travelling theatre at Makerere University in the mid 1960s.[1] Kiyingi was the first Ugandan to stage a play at the National Theatre in 1953, with his play "Pio Mbereenge Kamulaali". The play was the first in a local language to be staged at the National Theatre.[2] Kiyingi formed the country’s first theatre group to comprise native Ugandans; the African Artistes Association.The group adopted the mode of a travelling theatre, taking its productions to different parts of the central region. It is from there that other theatre groups (such as the Makerere Free Travelling Theatre of the 1960s) got inspiration, leading to the development of a fully-fledged local theatre movement in the country. Kiyingi was also the pioneer native writer of radio and TV drama in Uganda, in the late 1950s.[3][4]

Early life and education

Kiyingi was born to Ernest Kaggwe in 1929. He went to King's College Budo. During pre-independence Uganda, colonial governor Andrew Cohen granted him a scholarship to study drama at Bristol University from where he further polished his skills at Oxford University in London.[5]

Writing

He wrote more than ten books that have been widely translated and many directed into admirable plays and others adopted into both the secondary and university syllabi. Some of his great Luganda plays include; Gwosussa Emmwanyi, Lozio Bba Ssesiriya, Olugendo lw'e Gologoosa, Muduuma Kwe Kwaffe, Ssempala bba mukyala Ssempala and the Radio play Wókulira which ran on the then Radio Uganda for close to two decades.[6]

Published works

Plays

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ↑ "A man for all seasons" theeastafrican.co.ke. Retrieved November 21, 2014
  2. ↑ "Wycliff Kiyingi: the legacy of Uganda’s Shakespeare" monitor.co.ug. Retrieved November 21, 2014
  3. ↑ African Popular Theatre: From Pre-colonial Times to the Present Day. James Currey. 1995. p. 135. ISBN 978-0852555330.
  4. ↑ "Theater" go.galegroup.com. Retrieved November 21, 2014
  5. ↑ "At 85, Wycliffe Kiyingi still pulls packed theatre auditoria" observer.ug. Retrieved November 21, 2014
  6. ↑ "Celebrating Wycliffe Kiyingi; the Encyclopedia of Ugandan Theater" ugandaradionetwork.com. Retrieved November 21, 2014
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