Development alternatives

“You know as well as I do that folk poetry surrounds us and that it is passed on in a way that does not make you resent it. Do you remember Kannemu kannabiri? Has anyone mentioned to you people such as the late Timuteo Mukasa? In 1980 I composed the following poem Omuvubuka omukristayo and I won the Namirembe Diocese Prize. From then on I got different engagements with even local theatre groups to recite poetry.

I compose on things I observe, things sometimes only whispered about in secret. I just do not simply recite; I first observe, listen and capture the voices that people will identify once they are heard on the stage.

[In this poem about independence] I have not pointed at the political leaders but at every one of us. This is what performance is about. You have to reflect on what you dealing with.

I do not want to leave people uncertain of what I am saying. For example the tone and vocal expression even without the actions matter a lot; (you know what I mean, I work the voice, I make it become the personality of the poem, it is as if the voice becomes another person within me - then we are two people: my voice and I). The voice expresses the mood and feeling. If the poem is about mourning, my voice will become the voices of the people at the funeral… I use the voice to get people to feel and know what I am saying. I make an attempt to use my voice to sway the audience’s feelings and to get them into the feeling of the poem. Feeling is important in our poetry, in our music. I care very strongly about the audience’s understanding of the feeling as well as the message. I believe live performance is better than any other form of performance.”