ABSTRACT
Lubwa p’Chong is the leading Uganda playwright in English. His works include Generosity Kills and The Last Safari (1972), 1 and The Ministers Wife (1982). 2 Yet to be published are The Bishop’s Daughter (1988) 3 which discusses moral decadence and hypocrisy in the church today, Do not Uproot the Pumpkin (1987) 4 a stage adaptation of Okot Pbitek’s Song of Lawino, 5 Kinsmen and Kinswomen (1988) 6 which deals with issues of extended families, and The Madman (1989). 7 He has described all these plays as being ‘very, very political’. 8 He has also published a collection of poetry, Words of my Groaning (1975). 9 He is a realistic and direct dramatist who belongs to the ‘song school’. The ‘song’, being emotive and the most popular traditional performance genre, became the major motif of the writings of Okot Pbitek and many Ugandan writers. This form adapts and transforms idiomatic expression into English making the end-product appeal to literate and semi-literate audiences alike. It develops the stylistic features of traditional orature as a means of re-awakening communal and collective responsibility in society. Lubwa p’Chong’s sensitivity to socio-political issues and ‘humaneness’, as alternatives to political absolutism, is evident in the play texts discussed in this article.
