Communication and Creativity takes local voices to the National Theatres in Kenya and Uganda

Spanning across Kenya, Uganda and the United Kingdom, arts-based research project Communication and Creativity is reaching its final stages with National Theatre performances and an artistic residency.

Led by an international team, this three-year project is concerned with communication and creativity, seeing the two as linked and essential to human development.

The project builds on seven years of work with marginalised communities in western Kenya and eastern Uganda where communities recognised poor interpersonal and inter-community communication as an issue which can lead to conflict and an array of wider social issues.

Communication and Creativity is now reaching its culmination after almost three years of weekly arts activities, teacher training packages, public forum events and monthly family conversations research.

Founded by the late Professor Jane Plastow in 2023, it was co-developed with community groups in both locations and has been co-delivered with community partners in both Kenya and Uganda. The UK element has been a new extension of this work, seeking to connect with the East African diaspora in East Leeds alongside local community partners.

The project is hosted by the University of Leeds, in collaboration with project partners Makerere University (Uganda), University of Nairobi (Kenya), Arts Applied Uganda, We Are Walukuba (Uganda), Equator Ensemble (Kenya),  University College London (UK), Mafwa Theatre (UK) and Leeds Refugee Forum (UK).

Funded through a £1m grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the project is interdisciplinary with a project team of theatre practitioners, childhood studies practitioners and local project managers. It is rooted in the belief that arts-based research can provide opportunities for collaborative exploration of the socio-economic issues that affects communities.

In addition to this, the team is informed by dialogical approaches and exercises a responsive framework whereby communities lead the research agenda of the project. The aim of the work is to understand how improved communication via creative methods can lead to improved community relations and development.

The project has been working with local communities across three locations: in the slum district of Walukuba/Masese in Jinja, Uganda; in six rural villages in Kisumu County in western Kenya; and in Lincoln Green in Leeds – one of the most deprived areas of the UK with the highest population of African descent in the city.

The initial phases of the research began with no predetermined agenda. Workshops with schools and community groups were an open exploration using arts-based methods such as drama, creative writing and song.

The events, workshops and trainings from the first couple of years of the project culminate this year in large scale performances at the National Theatre of Uganda (Kampala) and the National Theatre of Kenya (Nairobi). The ensemble cast of these performances consist of community participants who have worked on Communication and Creativity and preceding projects.

The UK component is an artistic residency for participants, working with leading practitioners in the field of applied theatre.

Dr Matthew Elliott is Principal Investigator for Communication and Creativity and a Lecturer in Applied Performance and Global Challenges in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries at the University of Leeds. Matthew said:

“The performances at the National Theatres of Uganda and Kenya, as well as the residency in the UK, are an important conclusion of three years’ community collaboration.

“This project has been focused on sharing and telling community stories to identify ways in which the world can be changed for the better. Despite continued marginalisation, it is our belief as a project team that these community issues are of equal importance to other narratives in their respective countries.

“It is fitting as an act of defiance to said marginalisation that these local narratives will be told on the stage of the National Theatre in each country.”

The first of the large scale performances took place in May, when the final product of the research project in Uganda brought Wano Waife (It Is Ours) to the stage.

Research stories of the Walukuba community were performed by a 20-member community ensemble to a total of 1,200 audience members over four nights in Walukuba, Jinja (8 & 9 May) and the National Theatre in Kampala (16 & 17 May).

Following the lives of five community members from the district of Walukuba, Jinja, Wano Waife was a story of a community coming together which explored the dilemmas, contradictions and struggles of daily life.

Team members from the University of Nairobi, University of Leeds and Equator Ensemble are now in the intensive development stage for the final performances in Kenya, working in collaboration with the communities of Kagaga and Osiri, Nyando Sub-County.

Rich with community stories and Luo folk stories,  the final show – Death and The Future –  is a one act play where the community have been summoned to the funeral of the future. It will be performed in Kagaga, Osiri and the National Theatre in Kampala in the latter part of August.

Over in the United Kingdom, researchers and Mafwa Theatre have just completed a week-long residency at the University of Leeds' Workshop Theatre, working alongside migrant communities from Lincoln Green in East Leeds.

This final part of the UK work built on sharing workshops and immersive performances at stage@leeds in December 2025, where community participants shared creative responses to themes such as intergenerational relationships and mental health.

More information

Explore the different aspects of Communication and Creativity on our new website.

Feature image

Performance of 'Wano Waife' at the National Theatre in Kampala, Uganda (May 2026). Photo by Matylda Wierietielny.