ABSTRACT:
This paper seeks to explore the application of Theatre for development as a means of addressing community HIV/Aids needs and the challenges relating to culture and gender. It will focus on the approaches and contexts in which theatre is being applied in Uganda as a response to the HIV/Aids situation and the challenges that present in the process of negotiating Aids through theatre. Providing a background to the partnership between the Arts and AIDS education in Uganda, the paper, drawing from specific projects such as the School Health Education Project, explores institutionally based initiatives by government- through the Ministry of Health and that of Education, the NGO sector and artists and how they approach this. Through the institutional it considers the nature of Agit-prop sensitisation approaches tracing the development and changes in the focus from sensitisation and awareness to living positively with Aids. The NGO approaches will focus on participatory community oriented Theatre for development process, appreciating and exploring the cultural and gender dimensions of Aids as factors central to the performance and community needs. It draws on performances done by people living with Aids, texts and interviews with participants.
