Asiimwe Deborah GKashugi

Asiimwe Deborah GKashugi
Born Deborah Asiimwe
Occupation writer
Nationality Ugandan
Alma mater Makerere University
Genre plays
Notable works Will Smith Look Alike

Asiimwe Deborah GKashugi is an award winning Ugandan playwright, performer, and producer. Currently working as Specialist for Sundance Institute East Africa and a mentor with the Hamburg Germany based Do School,[1] her recent plays include, "Forgotten World", "Cooking Oil", "Appointment with gOD" and "Un-entitled", which have all been received either as productions or stage readings in the United States of America and East Africa.[2] Her play, "Will Smith Look Alike", won the 2010 BBC African Performance Play Writing Competition.[3][4] She is a 2006 recipient of a scholarship of merit in Writing for Performance from California Institute of the Arts, where she graduated with a Master in Fine Arts (MFA) degree in 2009, and of the 2010 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) New Generation Future Leaders grant to work with the Sundance Institute Theatre Program.[5]

Early life and education

Deborah went to Kashwa Primary School, in present-day Kiruhura District. She attended Bweranyangi Girls School for her secondary education before joining Makerere University where she did a diploma in Music, Dance and Drama. She returned to Makerere University and received a Bachelor of Arts in Drama (Honors)2003–2006).[4] She got a scholarship and did a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Writing for Performance at California Institute of the Arts.[6]

Writing

Deborah's interest in storytelling and performance started in her childhood. She was raised in an oral literature and storytelling culture, where folklore is passed on from generation to generation, by word of mouth. The majority of her work explores socio-political issues that affect developing countries.[6] She writes for stage, sometimes for radio and for screen. Her work has been performed in Nairobi/Kenya, Kisumu/Kenya and Kigali/Rwanda. In 2010, she was a recipient of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) New Generation Future Leaders grant to work with the Sundance Institute Theatre Program. In the same year, Will Smith Look Alike, a radio play by Deborah Asiimwe, was the overall winner of the BBC playwriting competition. She received a co-operation fellowship of JES (Junges Ensemble Stuttgart) and Akademie Schloss Solitude for 2015.[6] She has participated in many artists' gatherings and conferences, including, the annual Arts in the One World Conference (CalArts, Valencia, California), a project of The More Life: Cultural Studies and Genocide Initiative, a collaboration between CalArts and the Interdisciplinary Genocide Study Center in Kigali, Rwanda; the Women Playwrights International Conference (WPI) in the Philippines (2003); and is the 2003 Sundance Theatre Lab international observer, to mention but a few.[7]

Bibliography

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ↑ Profile; Deborah Asiimwe caceafrica.wordpress.com. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  2. ↑ Asiimwe kenduhearth.com. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Dominate BBC African Performance Play Writing Competition 2010 artmatters.info. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 all began with ebyevugo for BBC winner observer.ug. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Oil Sparks Conversation on East Africa’s Women msmagazine.com. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 Asiimwe akademie-solitude.de. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Asiimwe horsetrade.info. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Playwright Deborah Asiimwe wins BBC Competition for Will Smith Look-Alike calarts.edu. Retrieved 16 June 2014.

External links

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