THE MAN HIMSELF

BARNABAS N KASIGWA

kasigwab@yahoo.com

Barnabas N. Kasigwa is a B. A. (Hons) Dip Ed. Makerere University, M.A. (Literature), Kenyatta University. Currently, Kasigwa is pursuing a PhD in Theatre Arts at Kenyatta University

Kasigwa is a teacher of English/Literature and Drama Director at Moi High School – Kabarak and Kabarak University. He is also an Adjunct Faculty at St. Paul 's University, and an Associate Faculty at Mount Kenya University. He is a playwright, director and author of An Anthology of East African Plays published by Longman Kenya L. T. D.  Kasigwa is one of the founders of the Kenya Schools National Drama Festival Association (K. N. D. F. A).  He was also involved in the organization of Drama as Secretary in Eastern and Rift Valley Provinces for many years.  He is the first African Chairman of Nakuru Players Theatre and is involved in community theatre.

Kasigwa is a house-hold name in the Kenya schools and Colleges Drama Festival for his National drama prize-winning plays since his days at Kaaga Girls in Meru to date.  Some of these plays include:  Wishful Thinking (1983), The Fantasy (1985), The Trials (1987), The Absurd (1990), The Scam (1991), Amorphous (1993), Shadows (1997), Trepidations (2002), The Lybarith (2004), Nnakatanza (2006).  Some of these plays are recorded by Kenya Institute of Education (K. I. E.) as drama resource material for schools. His latest publication is Ambivalence of Life and Death: Death as a Leitmotif in John Ruganda's Drama (2012).

Kasigwa also established a Theatre Arts Department for the International Baccalaureate (I. B.) students at St. Mary’s School – Nairobi where he also directed musicals/opera of the classics:  Joseph and the T. Dreamcoat and Oliver!

Kasigwa is an accomplished National and International Drama Workshop facilitator and Fellow of Salizburg Seminar, Austria.  He is also an experienced adjudicator at National and other levels.

Kasigwa has won several accolades:

(i)         The Nation Media Group Award for best artistic director 2002 and 2004

(ii)        Ford Foundation Award for women empowerment and girl child rights (2006)

(iii)       The Kenya Bureau of Standards for devoted leadership in quality production   during the Kenya   National Drama Festival (2008).

(iv)       The Kenya Secondary Schools heads Association Teacher of the year award (Rift Valley Province 2009) for effort, commitment and dedication to the teaching service.

Publications:

• Kasigwa N B[1991] An Anthology of East African Plays, Nairobi, Longman Kenya - ISBN 9966 49 831 1- Plays with modern Theatre production notes. Contact c/o Longhorn Publishers (K) Ltd., www.longhornpublishers.com/ enquiries@longhornpublishers.com

• Kasigwa, B. "An Exploration of Minimalism in Athol Fugard's Plays" in African Drama And Theatre: A Criticism. Mugubi, J & Kebaya C. (eds). Nairobi: Focus Publishers. Forthcoming.

• Kasigwa B (2012) AMBIVALENCE OF LIFE AND DEATH - Death as leitmotif in John Ruganda's drama, Saarbrucken, Germany LAP LAMPERT Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. KG

If you would like to obtain a copy online, search this website: http://www.amazon.com/dp/3848418819/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_asp_VbqPD.0DG7PWB
For more information, email info@lap-publishing.com or visit www.lap-publishing.com.

 

 

 

Brief summary of this latest publication:

Although John Ruganda is one of the renowned playwrights in East and Central Africa, and being aware that much critical work has been written about his works, this is a collective analysis in a single generic study that focuses on the creation, development, treatment, interpretation, significance and use of the theme of death as a running motif in his drama. John Ruganda treats the Ambivalence of life and death. Sometime, the fear of death explains the meaning and need for the preservation of life.

This study contributes a new and deeper insight into John Ruganda's works. The relationship between content and form within the literary theory of structuralism informs the conceptual framework of this study. This research also explores the various concepts of death from the Christian and African traditional perspectives and examines the causes and use of various manifestations of death as a leitmotif in his drama. John Ruganda utilizes unique dramatic techniques: a minimal cast and storytelling, African folklore and mythology, role playing and fantasy projection within a one confined symbolic setting and use of language and symbolism in the whelm of metaphysical theatre of the absurd. John Ruganda is able to provide a reflection of the reality of a life of a people bedeviled by death in a society he deals with in his drama. This is a study scholars of varied disciplines such as, those of the theatre of the absurd examining the function of minimalism and the absurdity of life and theologians as well as anthropologists interested in the ambivalence of life and death and its mysteries especially from the Christian and African traditional concepts and perspective would find invaluable.

I wish you all my esteemed readers an enjoyable reading and comments.