Remembering Professor Jane Plastow
Activist, theatre director and scholar
Jane Plastow, who has died aged 66, made invaluable contributions to the fields of African studies, global development, community-based theatre and arts-based research. In her recent book Community-based Arts, Research and Activism in Uganda, she issued this reminder and challenge to fellow theatre makers:
‘We remain rooted in a commitment to solidarity with the disadvantaged and to an analysis arguing that we must critically consider and bring to light the structural causes driving poverty and inequality as a precursor to meaningful action and change.’
Uncompromising in her commitment to arts and social change, Jane fiercely spoke truth to power and inspired hundreds of fellow theatre workers and students across the world. She will be remembered by her family, friends and collaborators as someone whose strong socialist political beliefs would be equally matched by her joyous energy and laughter.
Born in Tunbridge Wells to parents Mary and Gerald Plastow in November 1958 and sister to Beverley, John and Caroline, Jane followed an early passion for performance by joining the local youth theatre. This passion led to Jane completing a BA English at the University of Manchester in 1981, which she followed up with an MPhil and PhD. It was shortly after the completion of her BA English that she travelled to Africa for the first time undertaking a teaching post in The Gambia. This job, taken on a whim, would be the beginning of a 44-year collaborative relationship with African artists, activists and educators traversing many countries across the continent including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Somaliland, Djibouti and Zimbabwe.
The volume of Jane’s work in East Africa outweighs the limits of an obituary. Pivotal moments include her long-term projects with Eritrean artists and educators in the aftermath of the War of Independence throughout the 1990s. It was during this period in Eritrea that Jane directed an adaptation of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want) which Ngũgĩ himself attended, beginning a friendship between Jane and the late giant of African Literature which would last until his death. Her unrivalled experience would lead to the publication of her two-volume A History of East African Theatre (2020/2021). Meticulously researched, the books have become the definitive political and artistic history of theatre in the region. Jane’s political intention was always to use such publications to ensure documentation and representation of cultural practices that are grossly underrepresented in academic literature. Most recently, Jane had a longstanding collaboration with We Are Walukuba, a small community organisation in Jinja, Uganda. Over a decade, Jane and collaborators challenged dominant short-term and message-based conventions of theatre for development with long-term dialogical forms of artistic engagement. The project has seen numerous large-scale performances, trained scores of community activists and redeveloped the Walukuba Community Centre. This work is regarded as a political intervention on matters chosen by the community which have included community interventions on issues including gender equality, environmental justice, sexual and reproductive health, and preventing gender-based violence. Through this, her long-term engagement with Jana Sanskriti in West Bengal, India, and numerous other community initiatives, Jane’s work embodies a lifetime commitment to demonstrating the power of theatre to change lives and communities. A beautiful aspect to all this work, which Jane would comment on frequently, was the support she had from family and having her son, Will, with her as a fellow artist and collaborator.
Jane is remembered by her colleagues and former students as an extraordinary, inspirational and admired teacher with an infectious love for African studies and as a mentor and friend whose energy and compassion shaped many lives in many places. Working at the University of Leeds from 1994, Jane successfully and enthusiastically led the Centre for African Studies (LUCAS), oversaw the innovative MA Theatre and Global Development, and acted as a PhD supervisor for lots of students, including many from across Africa who have gone on to hold senior teaching positions at leading African Universities. Throughout her career Jane combined academic rigour and clarity with warmth and a sense of fun, offering all kinds of support and encouragement while challenging those around her to think more deeply and act with conviction. Many recall her ability to connect people – between countries, disciplines and communities – through her belief in the power of performance to bring about change. One former student describes Jane as “a beacon of guidance whose wisdom lit the paths of her students and connected numerous individuals across various countries through community-engaged practice.” In 2014 Jane’s work with Martin Banham at the Workshop Theatre was celebrated as part of the University of Leeds’ 110-year celebrations and in recognition of her fierce and fearless leadership, Jane was awarded Professor of African Theatre in 2006, with the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka attending her inaugural lecture. Jane’s colleagues speak of her fierce loyalty, her sense of humour and her generosity, and of the joy she brought to her work. As one recalls, at a LUCAS Christmas party she once danced around the room with a mince pie in one hand and a delighted baby in the other – “It was pure Jane: human, irreverent and joyful.”
In her final years while battling cancer, Jane became interested in growing authoritarianism in the UK following her son’s imprisonment for alleged involvements in pro-Palestinian activism. Her uncompleted final book, provisionally titled Keir Starmer’s Political Prisoners, consisted of interviews with British political prisoners, highlighting the increasingly severe British state crackdown on dissent.
Jane was a collaborator who truly believed, inhabited and realised the political power of the arts. She had an unrelenting and unstoppable energy and an enormous sense of fun that will continue to live on in her collaborators, former students and family.
She is survived by Will, her brother, John, and sisters Beverley and Caroline.
In the days following Jane’s death, many colleagues and former students shared their memories of her. Their words reflect the deep affection and admiration felt across the University and beyond.
Lee Dalley, Technical Director at the School of English, University of Leeds
Working with Jane was never dull. When she set her mind to something, you really had two choices: get on board or get the hell out of the way! I was lucky enough to work with her on countless projects (mostly successful, always memorable… just like her) and each one driven by her energy, intelligence, and determination. On a personal level, she was constantly in my corner - supportive, encouraging and fiercely loyal. I’ll always be grateful for that, and for her.
Dr Susan Kiguli, a Ugandan poet, literary scholar and Associate Professor of Literature at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Jane Plastow was an exceptional teacher and mentor who knew how to strike that delicate balance between the academic and the social. Having been an overseas student, I so appreciated Jane's making sure that I delivered on my work but also settled into Leeds well. I also was awed by her knowledge of East African performance terrains and her willingness to learn even more. She was a very practical researcher who delved into research with deep enthusiasm and careful observation. Hers was an ethnographic approach, and she really took time to see that it worked. Jane was a lot a lot of fun to be with and missing her deeply is inevitable.
Dr Denis Flannery, Senior Lecturer at the School of English, University of Leeds
I was lucky enough to get to know Jane very well in what turned out to be the last few years of her life.
Jane was a genius at winning grant-funding (and on a scale!). She helped me with at least three grant application and when, despite her interventions, these applications were not successful, she cursed the awarding bodies with fire and vigour. 'Oh, for fuck's sake,' she said to me more than once, 'bloody ridiculous!'
One night in the summer of 2024 we were out for a pizza and, in the wake of what I considered to be a difficult 2022 and 2023, I said to Jane, 'I don't know... I just have no self-confidence anymore'. 'Oh, don't worry,' she replied, 'you can have some of mine!'
Jane lived in abundance. I loved that about her.
Dr Lillian Mbabazi, Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Performing Arts and Film, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Professor Jane Plastow was a beacon of guidance, whose wisdom lit the paths of her students and connected numerous individuals across various countries through community-engaged practice. Her unwavering commitment to arts-based scholarship and activism empowered several individuals to transform their lives and communities. Even though Professor Plastow is no longer with us, her impact continues to inspire and uplift the communities she devoted her life to. She will forever be in my heart.
Dr Brendon Nicholls, Associate Professor of Postcolonial African Studies at the School of English, University of Leeds
Jane was an inspirational Director of LUCAS in the days when it was a small network of enthusiasts with no budget. Her love of African Studies was infectious. It drew people together and held them together. As colleagues in the School of English, Jane and I had a long-running friendly debate about certain novels in which we shared an interest, but about which we disagreed intellectually. We resumed our discussions every so often over a beer. The conversation went on for years, and it has shaped my thinking. Jane was always a robust critic and a supportive friend. My favourite memory of Jane was at a LUCAS Christmas party, where she seized an international student’s baby and danced around the room talking to people with a mince pie in one hand and a delighted baby in the other arm. It was pure Jane - human, irreverent and joyful.
Read the Guardian’s obituary of Professor Jane Plastow, by Dr Matthew Elliott, Lecturer in Applied Performance and Global Challenges at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries.
Main image: Jane plastow, left, working with the community group We Are Walukuba in Jinja Uganda. Photo credit Dr Katie McQuaid, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, School of Geography.
