Arts-based collaborative research project takes local voices to the National Theatres in Kenya and Uganda
An arts-based research project spanning across Kenya, Uganda and the UK has reached its final stages with National Theatre performances and an artistic residency.
Led by Dr Matthew Elliott in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries at the University of Leeds, this three-year project is concerned with communication and creativity, seeing the two as linked and essential to human development.
Communication and Creativity 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.
Community choir weekend with We Are Walukuba, led by Derrick. Photo courtesy of Communication and Creativity project.
The project 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, Communication and Creativity was co-developed with community groups in Kenya and Uganda and has been co-delivered with community partners in both locations. The UK element is a new extension of this work, seeking to connect with the East African diaspora in East Leeds alongside local community partners.
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.
Jane Plastow working with We Are Walukuba community group in Jinja, Uganda
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).
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.
Rehearsals for Wano Waife performance at the National Theatre of Uganda in Kampala. Photo by Matylda Wierietielny.
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 utilising innovative arts-based research methods and accessible cultural provision.
Over time, the project has worked alongside communities to platform stories and everyday experiences of the community to make positive social change.
Arts-based theatre workshop at Osiri, Kenya. Photo courtesy of Community and Creativity project.
The project events, workshops and trainings culminated this year in large scale performances at the National Theatre of Uganda (Kampala) and the National Theatre of Kenya (Nairobi).
These full-length professional productions were devised from community stories which have emerged throughout the project, including a final intensive development phase working alongside the project’s local creative teams in Kenya and Uganda.
The ensemble cast of these performances consisted of community participants who have worked on Communication and Creativity initiatives and preceding projects.
The UK component was an artistic residency for participants, working with leading practitioners in the field of applied theatre.
Dr Lillian Mbabazi (Co-Investigator, University of Makerere), Brenda Mawerere (Project Manager, We are Walukuba) and Dr Matthew Elliott (Principal Investigator, University of Leeds) at the performance of Wano Waife in Jinja, May 2026. Photo Wierietielny.
Dr Matthew Elliott is Principal Investigator for Communication and Creativity and a Lecturer in Applied Performance and Global Challenges at the University of Leeds.
A researcher, facilitator and director with an interest in the political possibilities of applied theatre practice, Matthew has worked extensively with young people and adults in a range of settings including the criminal justice system, educational institutions and health settings.
Most recently, his practice has specifically focused on theatre and development practice and its uses in health-related contexts in East Africa. 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 are told on the stage of the National Theatre in each country.”
Performance of 'Wano Waife' in Walukuba, Jinja, Uganda (May 2026). Photo by Matylda Wierietielny.
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, Wano Waife was a story of a community coming together which explored the dilemmas, contradictions and struggles of daily life.
This community collaboration was brought to fruition by researchers from the University of Leeds and Makerere University – Dr Matthew Elliott and Dr Lillian Mbabazi – working collaboratively with project partners We Are Walukuba and Arts Applied Uganda, and members of the Walukuba community.
Performance of 'Wano Waife' in Walukuba, Jinja, Uganda (May 2026). Photo by Matylda Wierietielny.
Earlier this summer, Dr Matthew Elliott, Dr Simon Peter Otieno (University of Nairobi) and arts practitioners from Equator Ensemble completed the intensive development stage for the final performances in Kenya, working in collaboration with the communities of Kagaga and Osiri, Nyando Sub-County.
Research and development phase for performance at the National Theatre in Nairobi. Photo courtesy of Communication and Creativity project.
Rich with community stories and Luo folk stories, the final show – Death and The Future – was a one act play where the community have been summoned to the funeral of the future.
Throughout this hour-long production, questions were asked as to who has killed the future and who should face judgement as a result of their actions in the community. The audience were invited to question what future they want to see and what needs to be done to achieve it.
Death and The Future was performed over two nights in community venues in Kagaga and Osiri in mid-August, with the final two performances taking place at the National Theatre in Nairobi at the end of the month.
Performance of Death and The Future at the National Theatre, Nairobi, August 2026. Photo by Rony and Raymond. © Communication and Creativity.
In the United Kingdom, researchers Dr Matthew Elliott and Dr Kirrily Pells (University College London), in partnership with Mafwa Theatre, completed an intensive residency at the University of Leeds' Workshop Theatre. Over a five day period in July, the project team worked alongside migrant communities from Lincoln Green in East Leeds and a local school.
The residency utilised a range of arts-based practices to develop a new piece of performance to ask questions about cross-community communication. Bringing together music, movement, theatre and moments of interaction, In Other Words was shared with audiences in the Workshop Theatre on 24 and 25 July, alongside an immersive experience showcasing earlier aspects of the project.
This final part of the UK work built on sharing workshops and immersive performances at stage@leeds back in December 2025, where community participants shared creative responses to themes such as intergenerational relationships and mental health.
'In Other Words' performance at the Workshop Theatre, concluding a Communication and Creativity residency at the University of Leeds, July 2026. Photo by Annabel Cohen.
Professor Andrew Thorpe, Pro Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, said:
“The Communication and Creativity project is a brilliant example of the kind of creative, innovative and community-led research that academics in our faculty do best.
“It began three years ago thanks to the vision of our late colleague Professor Jane Plastow, in collaboration with Dr Matthew Elliott, Dr Simon Peter Otieno and Dr Lillian Mbabazi. Since then, it has evolved into a truly international and interdisciplinary project that has made a real difference to the lives of those who have taken part, from East Africa to the UK.
“By working alongside participants to tell their own stories, including on the grandest and most prestigious stages, Jane, Matthew, the wider project team and arts partners have demonstrated what universities can achieve when they collaborate as equal partners with communities. The work is a testament to much of what Jane sought to achieve throughout her remarkable career.
“Congratulations to all involved, from the researchers and community members to the creative practitioners and all the cast and crew behind the final performances in Kenya, Uganda and the UK.”
Dr Matthew Elliott with the cast of Death of the Future at the National Theatre, Nairobi, August 2026. Photo by Rony and Raymond. © Communication and Creativity.
More information
Find out more about the Communication and Creativity project.
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Performance of Wano Waife (It is Ours) at the National Theatre in Kampala, Uganda (May 2026). Photo by Matylda Wierietielny.
