20/08/2026
Alex Mukulu The Mentor Who Challenged My Art
Some photographs capture a moment, but others capture an entire chapter of one’s journey. This is one of those photographs for me standing on stage with Alex Mukulu an artist whose contribution to Uganda’s theatre and creative arts deserves to be celebrated.
My connection with the arts began long before I fully understood where the journey would take me.
As I was growing up, South Africa was still in the era of apartheid, and I became deeply fascinated by South African theatre, literature and the arts. I was drawn to how artists used creative expression to tell stories, preserve identity, confront injustice and give a voice to their people.
One of the artists who particularly fascinated and inspired me was Mbongeni Ngema,(RIP) the South African writer, playwright and lyricist. His work, particularly Sarafina!, demonstrated to me the extraordinary power of theatre to tell the story of a people and reflect the realities of society.
Years later, that fascination came full circle when, during my visits to South Africa as a curator from Entebbe, I had the opportunity to visit Soweto and Johannesburg, including locations associated with Sarafina! during my South African museum visits. It was a powerful experience moving from reading about the artists and places that inspired me to physically standing in some of those spaces.
While in secondary school, I was not only a Literature student; I was already an active performer.
My acting on stage took me to different schools across Uganda and Kenya, where we performed mini theatrical productions. The stage became a second home to me.
While other students looked forward to school holidays as a time to rest, my school holidays were often rehearsals. I spent much of that time preparing dance movements, practicing lines, developing characters and getting ready for the next performance.
Those experiences taught me discipline at a very young age. They taught me that theatre requires commitment, teamwork, preparation and the courage to stand before an audience and tell a story.
At the same time, my fascination with African literature was growing. As a Literature student, I immersed myself in the works of African writers, dramatists and playwrights, including Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Catherine Obianuju Acholonu.
Their works shaped how I understood African identity, culture, history, society and the human experience. They taught me that the written word could entertain, challenge, preserve memory and provoke thought.
Shortly after high school before joining university , I would go to now defunct
Pride Theatre to watch my maternal uncle, Charles James Senkubuge a.k.a Siasa, perform with the Bakayimbira Dramactors. Watching him on stage brought theatre even closer to home.
I later reconnected with my childhood friend from Entebbe, Also a namasagali product Julius Lugaya, an Artistic Director of Dance Week Uganda and a choreographer with Footsteps Theatre Dance Company, Our creative work at the time took us to different places, and I was fortunate to receive an invitation with the Sundance Institute.
At Sundance institute , another Entebbe childhood connection came alive. I met Philip Luswata, an Ugandan playwright and actor and one of the people behind Theatre Factory. I also reconnected with my maternal uncle, Charles Senkubuge.
It was through Philip Luswata, a protégé of Alex Mukulu, that I was eventually introduced to Alex.
And that introduction would become an important turning point in my artistic journey.
Alex Mukulu came to know my work, but he did not receive it with empty praise.
He was a man of heavy critique.
Some of my contemporary theatre productions at the time were subjected to his sharp assessment, and his criticism made me rethink the direction I was taking.
Rather than simply continue producing work for the stage, I began to shift my focus towards writing.
That change became one of the most significant decisions in my creative journey.
Over time, Alex embraced my writing, particularly my use and command of the English language. He challenged me to understand my work more deeply and mentored me on how best to own my work to make the work truly mine.
That is one of the lessons from Alex that I carry with me to this day.
Own your work. Know what you are saying. Understand your craft.
That was Alex who hated material things too.
He had a strong artistic conviction and expected you to defend your work with substance.
Yet there was another side of Alex that I particularly loved.
Off stage, he was always apologetic.
There was a humility in his stage presence that stood out to me. Behind the strong artistic personality and uncompromising critique was an artist who understood the discipline and responsibility of performance.
Bringing Alex Mukulu’s work home to Entebbe later come full circle through Pride of Entebbe.
As the Artistic Director and writer for Pride Of Entebbe, I was deeply involved in telling the story of Entebbe showcasing its rich history, heritage, culture and people to the rest of the world.
As we approached Pride of Entebbe’s 8th anniversary, I wanted the celebration to go beyond simply looking back at our achievements. I wanted to bring something meaningful to Entebbe’s cultural and artistic space.
Through Alex Mukulu’s protégé, Philip Luswata, I proposed an idea: why not bring Alex Mukulu’s celebrated play, 30 Years of Bananas, to Entebbe?
The response was immediate.
It was a done deal.
Then came January 2020.
For the first time, Entebbe began seeing flyers and posters announcing 30 Years of Bananas by Alex Mukulu.
The excitement was building towards 21st and 22nd February 2020, when the play was scheduled for a two-night presentation at Central Inn Annex, Entebbe, as part of Pride of Entebbe’s 8th anniversary celebrations.
It was not a small undertaking.
More than a cast of 60 all where involved in bringing the production to life actors, actresses, photographers, videographers, sound engineers and other creatives, all coming together in Entebbe.
30 Years of Bananas a classic play written by the legendary Alex Kabangala Mukulu and directed by his protégé Philip Kafuluma Luswata came to Entebbe as a major cultural moment.
It was presented as a grand Ugandan theatrical masterpiece: a rich drama full of symbolism and imagery, raising more questions than it answered.
For me, bringing this work to Entebbe was more than programming a theatre production. Still today the play is still memorable to the young and the old that watched the play.
It was personal.
It was a way of connecting the different worlds that had shaped me theatre, literature, heritage, Entebbe and the artists who had influenced my journey.
The same Alex Mukulu who had once challenged my contemporary theatre work was now having his celebrated work presented in my hometown, through an initiative I was helping to shape as part of Pride of Entebbe on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X) , TikTok and WhatsApp.
That was a full-circle moment.
Today, the journey has taken me far beyond the stages where I began.
Writing, producing and directing have taken me to Europe, Asia and across some parts of Africa, creating opportunities to collaborate with artists, theatre practitioners, creatives and cultural communities from different parts of the world.
These journeys have taught me that theatre has no borders. A story may be born in Entebbe, but through collaboration it can travel across continents, meet different audiences and create new conversations.
Every production, every collaboration and every journey continues to add another layer to my understanding of the arts.
And when I look back, I can trace some of those steps to the people who challenged and shaped me along the way
On Saturday, 15 August 2026, Uganda lost one of its distinctive voices in theatre and the creative arts. Alex Mukulu passed away at the age of 72.
For those of us who encountered Alex, his legacy will not simply live in the plays he wrote or the stages he graced. It will live in the people he challenged, mentored, inspired and pushed to take their craft seriously.
I will also remember Alex and his guitar.
The guitar was part of his signature another expression of the musician and artist within him. There was something unmistakably Alex about seeing him with his guitar: a reminder that his creativity was never confined to one discipline. Theatre, writing, music, performance and storytelling existed within the same artistic spirit.
Alex could challenge you with his words, critique your work and make you rethink your artistic direction but he also had the ability to pick up that guitar and let the artist speak through another language: music.
That was Alex Mukulu, theatre practitioner, writer, performer, musician, mentor and uncompromising custodian of his craft.
His passing leaves a space in Uganda’s creative community, but his work and influence will continue to speak.
And then came this photograph pictured above, When I look at this photograph of Alex Mukulu and me on stage many years ago at the playwrights club, I don’t simply see two people standing together.
I see a journey.
I see a young student travelling across Uganda and Kenya to perform mini theatrical productions.
I see school holidays dedicated to rehearsals.
I see South African theatre during the apartheid era.
I see Mbongeni Ngema and Sarafina!.
I see Soweto and Johannesburg.
I see the books of African writers and playwrights that shaped my thinking.
I see Pride Theatre and watching my uncle Charles James Senkubuge perform with Bakayimbira Dramactors.
I see Julius Lugaya and the creative journeys we made.
I see Sundance.
I see Philip Luswata — an Entebbe childhood friend who became the bridge that introduced me to Alex.
I see 30 Years of Bananas arriving in Entebbe, decades after Alex created it — a classic Ugandan work finding a new audience in the very community I have spent years telling stories about.
And I see Alex Mukulu the artist who challenged my work, redirected my focus, embraced my writing and taught me to own my craft.
Today, I am thankful.
Thankful for the critique. Thankful for the lessons. Thankful for the introduction. Thankful for the mentorship. Thankful for the opportunity to bring his work to Entebbe.
Most importantly, thankful that our paths crossed.
Because sometimes, a photograph is not just a photograph.
Sometimes it is evidence of a journey a journey through art, theatre, literature, friendship, heritage, mentorship and the continuing search for one’s own voice.
Alex, I celebrate you.
May your guitar continue to echo through the stories, stages and artists you inspired.
Rest well, Alex Mukulu. Your stage may have gone quiet, but your work continues to speak.
And to Philip Luswata, I say: thank you for the introduction, for the trust, and for helping create a connection that became an important chapter in my artistic journey.
Looking back now, I understand that meeting Alex was not just another encounter.
It was part of the making of the artist, curator, producer, director and writer I continue to become.
I remain
Charles
Artistic Writer | Curator | Rotarian
Pride of Entebbe
@2026
