BREAKING: Veteran Ugandan Playwright and Theatre Icon Alex Mukulu Dies at 72

What the report says

Kampala’s creative arts community is mourning the death of veteran Ugandan playwright, actor, dramatist, musician and theatre figure Alex Mukulu, who was reported dead at the age of 72. Watchdog Uganda said the news broke this morning and was later confirmed by multiple sources in the arts community and by media outlets including New Vision. The article notes that the exact cause and wider circumstances of his death were not yet clear.

According to the publisher, Mukulu was born in 1954 in Misebe, Ssingo County in Buganda and studied film and drama at Makerere University after attending Kololo Secondary School. He became one of Uganda’s most influential theatre personalities over nearly five decades and was widely associated with protest theatre, using the stage to address social injustice, political hypocrisy, poverty, cultural identity and the experiences of ordinary people.

Watchdog Uganda highlighted several of his best-known works, including 30 Years of Bananas, Wounds of Africa, The Guest of Honour, Excuse Me Mzungu, Peasants Cry and Journey to Self-Realization, which was performed at the 2007 CHOGM opening in Kampala. The report also recalled earlier productions such as Muzukulu wa Kabangala, Springs of Tears and Opera Bakisimba, and said Mukulu returned to the National Theatre stage in 2024 with Kulumbisi and Kulunkalu, an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The death marks the loss of a major cultural voice in Uganda’s theatre history.