Rose Mbowa (18 January 1943 â€" 11 February 1999) was a Ugandan
writer, actress, academic and feminist. She was a Professor of Theatre
Arts and Drama at Makerere University, the oldest and largest public
university in Uganda.Rose Mbowa was born on 18 January 1943 in the
town of Kabale, in the Western Region of Uganda, to Eva Nyinabantu
Mbowa, a homemaker, and Kasole Lwanda Mbowa, a laboratory technician.
After attending local schools, she was admitted to Gayaza High School,
a prestigious boarding school about 19 kilometres (12 mi), outside of
Uganda's capital city, Kampala. Following high school at Gayaza, she
went on to study English literature at Makerere University. Whilst
there, she was a member of the Makerere Free Travelling Theatre. In
1969 she was admitted to the University of Leeds, graduating with a
Master of Arts (MA) degree in Theatre Arts and Drama.She worked for a
year as a producer at Radio Uganda. Mbowa became a lecturer in the
department of music, dance and drama at Makerere University and then
became head of the department when the previous head was forced to
leave the country. Her mentor was playwright Byron Kawadwa, who was
killed by Idi Amin's forces in 1977. Later in the 1980s, she worked
with the rural "Magere Women's Cooperative", and encouraged the women
to use their culture and to market their agricultural produce.She
published a number of articles on theatre in Uganda and presented
papers on Ugandan theatre at the annual conference on African
literature at the University of Bayreuth between 1989 and 1994. She
also performed with a number of different theatre companies in Uganda.
She was named best actress at the National Theatre and received the
Presidential Meritorious Award for Acting in 1973. She also received
the National Theatre Best Production award twice: for her own play
Nalumansi in 1982 and for The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua Sutherland
in 1983. She performed the title role in Bertolt Brecht's play Mother
Courage and Her Children.
writer, actress, academic and feminist. She was a Professor of Theatre
Arts and Drama at Makerere University, the oldest and largest public
university in Uganda.Rose Mbowa was born on 18 January 1943 in the
town of Kabale, in the Western Region of Uganda, to Eva Nyinabantu
Mbowa, a homemaker, and Kasole Lwanda Mbowa, a laboratory technician.
After attending local schools, she was admitted to Gayaza High School,
a prestigious boarding school about 19 kilometres (12 mi), outside of
Uganda's capital city, Kampala. Following high school at Gayaza, she
went on to study English literature at Makerere University. Whilst
there, she was a member of the Makerere Free Travelling Theatre. In
1969 she was admitted to the University of Leeds, graduating with a
Master of Arts (MA) degree in Theatre Arts and Drama.She worked for a
year as a producer at Radio Uganda. Mbowa became a lecturer in the
department of music, dance and drama at Makerere University and then
became head of the department when the previous head was forced to
leave the country. Her mentor was playwright Byron Kawadwa, who was
killed by Idi Amin's forces in 1977. Later in the 1980s, she worked
with the rural "Magere Women's Cooperative", and encouraged the women
to use their culture and to market their agricultural produce.She
published a number of articles on theatre in Uganda and presented
papers on Ugandan theatre at the annual conference on African
literature at the University of Bayreuth between 1989 and 1994. She
also performed with a number of different theatre companies in Uganda.
She was named best actress at the National Theatre and received the
Presidential Meritorious Award for Acting in 1973. She also received
the National Theatre Best Production award twice: for her own play
Nalumansi in 1982 and for The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua Sutherland
in 1983. She performed the title role in Bertolt Brecht's play Mother
Courage and Her Children.
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