Aganza Kisaka named new ITI-Uganda president
In her speech, Kisaka said the appointment was not a privilege but an opportunity to serve in the field of theatre.
Aganza Kisaka recieving the instruments of power from the outgoing acting president, Amelia Mboto Kyaka at ITI office at UNCC. (Photos by Alfred Byenkya)
Alfred Byenkya
Journalist @New Vision
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Theatre producer, director, actress and poet Aganza Kisaka has been appointed the new president of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) - Uganda Chapter and will serve a two-year term ( 2025-2027).
She was appointed President by members of the Institute including Dr. Jessica Atwooki Kaahwa, the President of the Executive Board, International Theatre Institute, Kaaya Kagimu and Amelia Mboto Kyaka, who has been acting president for one year and six months, among others.
Aganza was appointed to the position during the celebrations to mark World Theatre Day (March 27, 2025) at the National Theatre.
On the same day, the institute also opened an office at the UNCC building (National Theatre).
In her speech, Kisaka said the appointment was not a privilege but an opportunity to serve in the field of theatre.
"I know there are many challenges, but if we work together as creatives, we will be in a position to do what I am supposed to do during my term in office,” she said.
Kisaka (right) with Francis Peter Ojedde (center) and Amelia Mboto Kyaka at ITI offices.
Kaahwa tasked her to grow the organisation's membership by registering all theatre practitioners to the body.
Who is Kisaka?
According to her biography, Kisaka is an award-winning actress and poet. Her work intersects acting, producing, writing and directing for stage and film.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from New York University and went on to complete a Masters in Education with Unicaf University where her research focused on the availability and adequacy of performing arts policies for tertiary education in Uganda.
In 2011 her poem A Hand Swing of Disguised Depravity won first prize of the Babishai Niwe Poetry Award. The poem was later published in A Thousand Voices Rising anthology”.
In 2017 she won Best Actress at Pearl International Film Festival (PIFF) for playing the lead role in Sanyu in the feature film Faithful by Richard Nondo.
In 2019 she won Best Supporting Actress at Uganda Film Festival (UFF) for the supporting role in N.S.I.W.E by Roja Matelja.
Kisaka has produced and published some of her own work. Black, is a 10-minute play on race, blackness and identity that was showcased at Kampala International Theatre Festival 2016 and served as her debut as a playwright. Operation: Mother’s Bruises, is a short story about depression published in The Different Shades of the feminine Mind (2017) as part of the Afriwowri Literary Project.
Autopoeisis, Entropy or Redundancy and Other Terms (2018), is a book that she co-curated and co-wrote with participants of the School of Anxiety that showcased at the 10th Berlin Biennale.
Killing Time (2020) is her satirical play that has featured at the Lagos Theatre Festival (2021), Kenya International Theatre Festival (2021) and The Kampala International Theatre Festival (2021).
In 2021, she produced a short film on the stigma that parents of children with mental disabilities experience and in 2023 her commissioned co-written feature film, When You Become Me, was nominated for best screenplay at Uganda Film Festival.
In 2023, she was the lead director of the remarkable My Fair Lady Musical where she also starred in the leading role as Eliza Doolittle. Her latest work is as lead director and producer for the spell-binding, glamorous and impeccable musical production of She Loves Me.
She is the founder of Yenze Theatre Conservatoire which trains performing artistes in acting, movement and voice for the stage and film while providing actor management.
Kisaka is also a proud fellow with George-town University Lab for global politics and performance.
With a strong belief in the power of performance to mirror and transform real life through authenticity, Kisaka hopes that her work will serve a greater purpose to transform lives for the better by reflecting and revealing or unveiling life truths.