Lubwama’s hot potato

Title: Masikini ku Lujuliro
Playwright: Paul Kato Lubwama
Director: Paul Kato Lubwama
Duration: approximately three hours
Genre: Political
Group: Diamonds Ensemble Entertainment
Showing at: Royal Theatre, along Martin Road

It is a play that has attracted the highest charge at its premiere, Shs250, 000 for VIP seating and Shs100, 000 for ordinary seating, for entrance. It premiered at Royal Theatre about a month ago and continues showing over the weekends.

The play is highly political with tribalist overtones. Kato Lubwama premises his play on a group or tribe of people who request for jobs (Masikini) in a factory but end up taking it over.

Masikini is Luganda for pauper and lujuliro is meal time so in this play title Lubwama is portraying a pauper who was invited for a meal but does not say thank you and goes on to chase the hosts away.

One Luwandagga owns a Tea Factory whose management has been run down thanks to one of his drunkard sons. Luwandagga is desperately looking for a replacement in this managerial position and settles for a rural guy who shows humility and is just about what any employer would look for, humble, diligent and committed.

However it is a matter of time before he starts sacking Luwandagga’s relatives and replacing them with his own. Politics is not a new genre on Lubwama’s stage. He has done a number of plays including titles like Okufa N’obutanyagwa, which is said to have partly caused his eviction from Cooper Theatre and more recently Namulondo Kukyoto.

Lubwama takes on the minor but pivotal role of the man who will be trusted to save the factory from being taken over by the intruders, after the owner is murdered. You will not miss moments of comic relief which help lighten up the tension in the play.

rbatte@ug.nationmedia.com