You are undoubtedly a devoted theater patron if you enjoy both Broadway in New York and the West End in London. While a life in theatre in the UK begins and ends on the West End, Broadway is regarded as the center of American theater. (Shame on You- Using Abusive Language on Stage)
Following their global premieres at the venues, shows like Six, which is about King Henry’s six wives, and Hamilton, which is about the rapping founding fathers of America, respectively, established worldwide cults. Because playwrights, particularly in Africa, received their training from their colonial masters, theaters in other countries adopted the culture.
Plays with musical components were well-known in the National Theatre’s early years, but as time passed, the tradition was subsequently dropped.
Some producers kept including music in their works but never gave it the respect it deserved. Sometimes, without any accompaniment, actors simply sung their lines. Today’s Ugandan theatergoers frequently overlook the importance of music in the productions they see.
Shame on Your Hand, Phillip Luswata’s most recent production, however, seemed to break convention.
The production, which was directly influenced by the rise in sexual assault and harassment, combines musical theater, spoken word, and instrumentation to give Ugandans a taste of Broadway in New York.
In fact, the director and playwright even went so far as to hire renowned music composer Branco Sekalegga to collaborate on the score. This was done to aid the audience in understanding the fundamentals of art.
However, these remained unremarkable to the ear, unlike Broadway, whose songs these days sound like singles taken from a well-known radio playlist.
The majority of Ugandans may not have recognized they needed the play Shame on Your Hand, but as the plot developed on stage via the experiences of the several female characters, it became obvious that we did.
The show’s topics are well-known on social media and in the media at large, but most recently, artist Sheebah Karungi called out a prominent male member of society she thought was attempting to be humorous with her.
Of course, the conflicted opinions in both men’s and women’s reactions were telling. And Luswata’s play makes extensive use of all these lines of reasoning.
The play introduces us to six ladies, all of whom are somehow connected to Andrew, the lone male actor on the cast. He abused some of the women, committed rape on one, had a child with another, and is the mother of the loud woman.
As the story progresses, there are many things we learn about Andrew’s behavior. We learn that he raped the mother of his children and later come to understand why, unlike other mothers, her wanted him dead. Their various connections with Andrew most often determine their reaction to Andrew’s action.
Mother of Andrew was raped and had child.
The play attempts to address a number of questions, but somewhere along the road, it’s possible that they accidentally generalized about men, either knowingly or unknowingly. (Shame on You- Using Abusive Language on Stage – celebrity jazz ug)
