Dial Afrika Special: Ugandan Playwright George Seremba

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George Seremba

Our next edition of Dial Afrika features a unique encounter with the voice of Ugandan actor, playwright and academic George Bwannika Seremba.

George escaped his country after being shot by the forces of then President Obote, in 1980. After leaving Uganda, he moved first to Kenya, then to Canada, and later to Dublin. Since then, he has had an extensive career as a playwright and performer. He is the author of three full-length plays, The Grave Will Decide, Come Good Rain, and Napoleon of the Nile, as well as of poems and radio plays.

His solo play Come Good Rain journeys though George’s experiences of activism and persecution in his home country. It shares in vivid language what it was to be left for dead, but also to be saved, first by a blessing of rain and then by people willing to risk everything to help.

George received his PhD from Trinity College Dublin in 2008, and now teaches at Brown University in Rhode Island in the USA.

George receiving his Doctorate, with fellow Eastsider, Anna

Our own African representative, PJ, recently spoke to George, while travelling in the United States, and has brought back their conversation to play for Eastside on Dial Afrika.

African actor Lloyd Osei Bonsu is a Ghanian born in the culturally rich city of Kumsi, popularly known as the garden city. He has made his home in Sydney, where he hosts a radio program called African Connections at a community radio station (Radio Skidrow 88.9fm). On his show he plays African music from across the continent and also broadcasts news and current affairs: “My program is about sharing and connecting my listeners with the African way of life.” We are very lucky to have had Lloyd perform extracts from George’s play for us, here in the Eastside studio. These recorded portions of Come Good Rain will be broadcast as part of this special program.

Listeners should be aware that some of the incidents discussed in this program are distressing.

Dial Afrika is broadcast every Wednesday from 9 – 10.30am

You can replay every show at any time via our Program Guide