Audience Education Plan
Some Initial Plans for Audience Education
The following information is tailored to be presented to the audience through a variety of formats. Some will be included in the playbill, displayed in the lobby, and some will be included in listserve emails that will be sent to the audience after the performance.
Lobby Display
In the lobby we will have a large map of Uganda and the surrounding regions. This map will be labelled with the following places as taken from the play. We will also have a picture display in the lobby so that audiences can begin to familiarize themselves with the way it may have felt to be in Uganda when the events of the play were taking place.
Throughout the play, Seremba references different locations; to aid in the development and understanding of this project, key locations will be briefly defined below (with page numbers of first reference in brackets), while a map will provide further visual clarity.
Rubaga (17): a residential division in Kampala, Uganda
Nabunya (17): a road that runs through central-west Kampala
Luwero (24): a district in the Central Region of Uganda
Lwabenge (24): sub-county in Uganda
Kalisizo (24): a town in the southern section of the Central Region of Uganda
Akokoro District (26): sub-county in Uganda, north of Kampala
Kilungu (33): sub-county in Kenya
Banda (46): neighbourhood in Kampala
Kireka (46): township in central Uganda — part of Kira Municipality
Bweyogerere (46): township in central Uganda — part of Kira Municipality
Jinja (52): town in southern Uganda — located along the source of the Nile River
Owen Falls Dam (55): power station along the Nile that has its source at Lake Victoria, Uganda
Mukono (55): municipality in the Mukono District of the Central Region of Uganda
Lugazi (55): municipality in the Buikwe District of the Central Region of Uganda (A.K.A. ‘Kawolo’)
Mabira Forest (55): a 300 square km rainforest in Buikwe District, between Lugazi and Jinja
Bulumagi (55): village in central Uganda
Iganga (56): town in Eastern Region of Uganda, and the centre of the Iganga District
Mulago (58): hospital in Kampala
Namanve Forest (59): forest in Mukono District
Kibuye (60): small section in central Kampala
Kisubi (60): small neighbourhood in the Central Region of Uganda
Entebbe (62): town on a peninsula in Lake Victoria, central Uganda
Playbill Information
Come Good Rain has been produced all across the globe, over 300 times, in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Los Angeles, Dublin, London, Jerusalem, Galway, Ann Arbour, and Providence (Badejo, Colden; Dowden; Lewis; Mulekwa 235; Playwrights Guild of Canada; Seremba 5, 7 11, 13; SPLA; Wikipedia). The play had an initial Irish tour in 1996, produced by the Project Arts Centre; the tour started in Belfast and eventually came to Dublin (King and Seremba 118; Seremba 5). In Toronto, Come Good Rain would go on to win a Dora Mavor Moove Award for “Outstanding New Play” in 1994 (Encyclopedia; Lewis; Seremba 11). Some notable productions/adaptations from a few of the cities mentioned above include the following:
Born in Kampala, Uganda, George Bwanika Seremba is an award-winning Black-Canadian actor and playwright, as well as a poet (Canadian Encyclopedia; King and Seremba 17; Seremba 65; SPLA). Seremba was drawn to acting from quite a young age, and he would go on to continue his pursuits in performance while at Makerere University in Kampala (Canadian Encyclopedia; Seremba 65). Around the same time, he also developed a passion for writing (Canadian Encyclopedia; Seremba 65). Growing up during the dictatorial reign of both president Idi Amin and Milton Obote, Seremba felt it was important to speak out against the injustices going on, and would thus become the “voice of dissent” on campus as he rallied people at the university to do the same (Colgan; Seremba 7; King and Seremba 17). However, after Seremba completed his degree in English Literature, he was then forced to flee Uganda following his near execution by then-president Milton Obote’s Military Intelligence (King and Seremba 17).
A Short Timeline of Ugandan history History
— 1882-1962: British Colonial rule
— 1962: the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Sir Edward Frederick Mutesa II, is elected president
— what language is Kabaka?
— Buganda (just one province/kingdom in whole country of Uganda) vs Luganda vs Uganda
— 1966: Milton Obote deposes the president, establishes a one-party state
— 1971: Idi Amin Dada, commander of the armed forces, deposes Obote and is installed as president.
— ‘Over the next few years [he] begins a reign of terror that destroys the political and economic fabric of the country’
— ‘The Asian population is expelled’
— 1978: Amin declares war with Tanzania, but Tanzanian forces and some ‘exiled Ugandan opposition groups’ fight back and capture Kampala
— Amin flees in 1979 (after 500,000 deaths [p31]
— 1980: a ‘fraudulent election’ puts Obote back in charge as President.
— he ‘continues from where he stopped: presiding over a hegemonic and murderous regime’
— he is eventually overthrown by his one-time cohorts, including Paulo Muwanga and Bazilio Okello
— 1986: Yoweri Kaguta, Museveni, and his NRA overthrow the cohorts
— they pledge to end terror and implement widespread reforms to a ‘devastated country’
— 2019: Museveni has been in power for 33 years
— term limit gone
— age limit gone
— ‘His heroic legacy has all but been completely washed away’
Email Follow Up
In the email follow up to our audience members we are going to encourage them to tell us what they thought of the performance and use the hashtag: #comegoodrainTO to discuss the show on social media. This kind of peer-facilitated engagement with productions is often a key factor in encouraging others to attend performances.
We will also provide some resources for if they want to further engage in the local Ugandan diaspora as well as some further educational resources.
If you are part of a diasporic community and want to reach out to your community Ureach Toronto is a great organization: https://www.ureachtoronto.ca/diaspora-initiative/.
These are some other resources we may suggest:
https://www.ocic.on.ca/membership/#associate-member-id
"Welcome to the Uganda Canada Convention." Uganda Canada Convention. Web. 06 Dec.
2020.
The following information is tailored to be presented to the audience through a variety of formats. Some will be included in the playbill, displayed in the lobby, and some will be included in listserve emails that will be sent to the audience after the performance.
Lobby Display
In the lobby we will have a large map of Uganda and the surrounding regions. This map will be labelled with the following places as taken from the play. We will also have a picture display in the lobby so that audiences can begin to familiarize themselves with the way it may have felt to be in Uganda when the events of the play were taking place.
Throughout the play, Seremba references different locations; to aid in the development and understanding of this project, key locations will be briefly defined below (with page numbers of first reference in brackets), while a map will provide further visual clarity.
Rubaga (17): a residential division in Kampala, Uganda
Nabunya (17): a road that runs through central-west Kampala
Luwero (24): a district in the Central Region of Uganda
Lwabenge (24): sub-county in Uganda
Kalisizo (24): a town in the southern section of the Central Region of Uganda
Akokoro District (26): sub-county in Uganda, north of Kampala
Kilungu (33): sub-county in Kenya
Banda (46): neighbourhood in Kampala
Kireka (46): township in central Uganda — part of Kira Municipality
Bweyogerere (46): township in central Uganda — part of Kira Municipality
Jinja (52): town in southern Uganda — located along the source of the Nile River
Owen Falls Dam (55): power station along the Nile that has its source at Lake Victoria, Uganda
Mukono (55): municipality in the Mukono District of the Central Region of Uganda
Lugazi (55): municipality in the Buikwe District of the Central Region of Uganda (A.K.A. ‘Kawolo’)
Mabira Forest (55): a 300 square km rainforest in Buikwe District, between Lugazi and Jinja
Bulumagi (55): village in central Uganda
Iganga (56): town in Eastern Region of Uganda, and the centre of the Iganga District
Mulago (58): hospital in Kampala
Namanve Forest (59): forest in Mukono District
Kibuye (60): small section in central Kampala
Kisubi (60): small neighbourhood in the Central Region of Uganda
Entebbe (62): town on a peninsula in Lake Victoria, central Uganda
Playbill Information
Come Good Rain has been produced all across the globe, over 300 times, in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Los Angeles, Dublin, London, Jerusalem, Galway, Ann Arbour, and Providence (Badejo, Colden; Dowden; Lewis; Mulekwa 235; Playwrights Guild of Canada; Seremba 5, 7 11, 13; SPLA; Wikipedia). The play had an initial Irish tour in 1996, produced by the Project Arts Centre; the tour started in Belfast and eventually came to Dublin (King and Seremba 118; Seremba 5). In Toronto, Come Good Rain would go on to win a Dora Mavor Moove Award for “Outstanding New Play” in 1994 (Encyclopedia; Lewis; Seremba 11). Some notable productions/adaptations from a few of the cities mentioned above include the following:
Born in Kampala, Uganda, George Bwanika Seremba is an award-winning Black-Canadian actor and playwright, as well as a poet (Canadian Encyclopedia; King and Seremba 17; Seremba 65; SPLA). Seremba was drawn to acting from quite a young age, and he would go on to continue his pursuits in performance while at Makerere University in Kampala (Canadian Encyclopedia; Seremba 65). Around the same time, he also developed a passion for writing (Canadian Encyclopedia; Seremba 65). Growing up during the dictatorial reign of both president Idi Amin and Milton Obote, Seremba felt it was important to speak out against the injustices going on, and would thus become the “voice of dissent” on campus as he rallied people at the university to do the same (Colgan; Seremba 7; King and Seremba 17). However, after Seremba completed his degree in English Literature, he was then forced to flee Uganda following his near execution by then-president Milton Obote’s Military Intelligence (King and Seremba 17).
A Short Timeline of Ugandan history History
— 1882-1962: British Colonial rule
— 1962: the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Sir Edward Frederick Mutesa II, is elected president
— what language is Kabaka?
— Buganda (just one province/kingdom in whole country of Uganda) vs Luganda vs Uganda
— 1966: Milton Obote deposes the president, establishes a one-party state
— 1971: Idi Amin Dada, commander of the armed forces, deposes Obote and is installed as president.
— ‘Over the next few years [he] begins a reign of terror that destroys the political and economic fabric of the country’
— ‘The Asian population is expelled’
— 1978: Amin declares war with Tanzania, but Tanzanian forces and some ‘exiled Ugandan opposition groups’ fight back and capture Kampala
— Amin flees in 1979 (after 500,000 deaths [p31]
— 1980: a ‘fraudulent election’ puts Obote back in charge as President.
— he ‘continues from where he stopped: presiding over a hegemonic and murderous regime’
— he is eventually overthrown by his one-time cohorts, including Paulo Muwanga and Bazilio Okello
— 1986: Yoweri Kaguta, Museveni, and his NRA overthrow the cohorts
— they pledge to end terror and implement widespread reforms to a ‘devastated country’
— 2019: Museveni has been in power for 33 years
— term limit gone
— age limit gone
— ‘His heroic legacy has all but been completely washed away’
Email Follow Up
In the email follow up to our audience members we are going to encourage them to tell us what they thought of the performance and use the hashtag: #comegoodrainTO to discuss the show on social media. This kind of peer-facilitated engagement with productions is often a key factor in encouraging others to attend performances.
We will also provide some resources for if they want to further engage in the local Ugandan diaspora as well as some further educational resources.
If you are part of a diasporic community and want to reach out to your community Ureach Toronto is a great organization: https://www.ureachtoronto.ca/diaspora-initiative/.
These are some other resources we may suggest:
https://www.ocic.on.ca/membership/#associate-member-id
"Welcome to the Uganda Canada Convention." Uganda Canada Convention. Web. 06 Dec.
2020.
Above: Ugandan Map for Audience Reference
Playbill Information
Born in Kampala, Uganda, George Bwanika Seremba is an award-winning Black-Canadian actor and playwright, as well as a poet (Canadian Encyclopedia; King and Seremba 17; Seremba 65; SPLA). Seremba was drawn to acting from quite a young age, and he would go on to continue his pursuits in performance while at Makerere University in Kampala (Canadian Encyclopedia; Seremba 65). Around the same time, he also developed a passion for writing (Canadian Encyclopedia; Seremba 65). Growing up during the dictatorial reign of both president Idi Amin and Milton Obote, Seremba felt it was important to speak out against the injustices going on, and would thus become the “voice of dissent” on campus as he rallied people at the university to do the same (Colgan; Seremba 7; King and Seremba 17). However, after Seremba completed his degree in English Literature, he was then forced to flee Uganda following his near execution by then-president Milton Obote’s Military Intelligence (King and Seremba 17).
Arriving in Kenya, he would spend three years in exile there but would come into his own as an artist nonetheless, most remembered for his role as Zack in Athol Fugard’s production of Blood Knot (King and Seremba 17; Playwrights Guild of Canada; Seremba 65). In 1984, Seremba would then move to Canada where he began to write and act more professionally (King and Seremba 17). While a resident playwright under the Ontario Arts Council, Seremba would complete his play, Napoleon of the Nile (1993) (SPLA). Other plays Seremba wrote include Come Good Rain (1992), Secrets of the Savannah (2007), and Mama’s George (2008) (Playwrights Guild of Canada; Seremba 11).
Come Good Rain has been produced all across the globe, over 300 times, in cities such as Ottawa, Montreal, Los Angeles, Dublin, London, Jerusalem, Galway, Ann Arbour, and Providence. The play had an initial Irish tour in 1996, produced by the Project Arts Centre; the tour started in Belfast and eventually came to Dublin. In Toronto, Come Good Rain would go on to win a Dora Mavor Moove Award for “Outstanding New Play.”
A Short Timeline of Ugandan history History
— 1882-1962: British Colonial rule
— 1962: the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Sir Edward Frederick Mutesa II, is elected president
— 1966: Milton Obote deposes the president, establishes a one-party state
— 1971: Idi Amin Dada, commander of the armed forces, deposes Obote and is installed as president.
— 1978: Amin declares war with Tanzania, but Tanzanian forces and some ‘exiled Ugandan opposition groups’ fight back and capture Kampala
— Amin flees in 1979 (after 500,000 deaths)
— 1980: a ‘fraudulent election’ puts Obote back in charge as President.
— he ‘continues from where he stopped: presiding over a hegemonic and murderous regime’
— he is eventually overthrown by his one-time cohorts, including Paulo Muwanga and Bazilio Okello
— 1986: Yoweri Kaguta, Museveni, and his NRA overthrow the cohorts
— they pledge to end terror and implement widespread reforms to a ‘devastated country’
— 2019: Museveni has been in power for 33 years
— term limit gone
— age limit gone
— ‘His heroic legacy has all but been completely washed away’
Email Follow Up
In the email follow up to our audience members we are going to encourage them to tell us what they thought of the performance and use the hashtag: #comegoodrainTO to discuss the show on social media. This kind of peer-facilitated engagement with productions is often a key factor in encouraging others to attend performances.
We will also provide some resources for if they want to further engage in the local Ugandan diaspora as well as some further educational resources.
If you are part of a diasporic community and want to reach out to your community Ureach Toronto is a great organization: https://www.ureachtoronto.ca/diaspora-initiative/.
These are some other resources we may suggest:
https://www.ocic.on.ca/membership/#associate-member-id
"Welcome to the Uganda Canada Convention." Uganda Canada Convention. Web. 06 Dec.
2020.
Arriving in Kenya, he would spend three years in exile there but would come into his own as an artist nonetheless, most remembered for his role as Zack in Athol Fugard’s production of Blood Knot (King and Seremba 17; Playwrights Guild of Canada; Seremba 65). In 1984, Seremba would then move to Canada where he began to write and act more professionally (King and Seremba 17). While a resident playwright under the Ontario Arts Council, Seremba would complete his play, Napoleon of the Nile (1993) (SPLA). Other plays Seremba wrote include Come Good Rain (1992), Secrets of the Savannah (2007), and Mama’s George (2008) (Playwrights Guild of Canada; Seremba 11).
Come Good Rain has been produced all across the globe, over 300 times, in cities such as Ottawa, Montreal, Los Angeles, Dublin, London, Jerusalem, Galway, Ann Arbour, and Providence. The play had an initial Irish tour in 1996, produced by the Project Arts Centre; the tour started in Belfast and eventually came to Dublin. In Toronto, Come Good Rain would go on to win a Dora Mavor Moove Award for “Outstanding New Play.”
A Short Timeline of Ugandan history History
— 1882-1962: British Colonial rule
— 1962: the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Sir Edward Frederick Mutesa II, is elected president
— 1966: Milton Obote deposes the president, establishes a one-party state
— 1971: Idi Amin Dada, commander of the armed forces, deposes Obote and is installed as president.
— 1978: Amin declares war with Tanzania, but Tanzanian forces and some ‘exiled Ugandan opposition groups’ fight back and capture Kampala
— Amin flees in 1979 (after 500,000 deaths)
— 1980: a ‘fraudulent election’ puts Obote back in charge as President.
— he ‘continues from where he stopped: presiding over a hegemonic and murderous regime’
— he is eventually overthrown by his one-time cohorts, including Paulo Muwanga and Bazilio Okello
— 1986: Yoweri Kaguta, Museveni, and his NRA overthrow the cohorts
— they pledge to end terror and implement widespread reforms to a ‘devastated country’
— 2019: Museveni has been in power for 33 years
— term limit gone
— age limit gone
— ‘His heroic legacy has all but been completely washed away’
Email Follow Up
In the email follow up to our audience members we are going to encourage them to tell us what they thought of the performance and use the hashtag: #comegoodrainTO to discuss the show on social media. This kind of peer-facilitated engagement with productions is often a key factor in encouraging others to attend performances.
We will also provide some resources for if they want to further engage in the local Ugandan diaspora as well as some further educational resources.
If you are part of a diasporic community and want to reach out to your community Ureach Toronto is a great organization: https://www.ureachtoronto.ca/diaspora-initiative/.
These are some other resources we may suggest:
https://www.ocic.on.ca/membership/#associate-member-id
"Welcome to the Uganda Canada Convention." Uganda Canada Convention. Web. 06 Dec.
2020.