by Steven Tendo

Kenneth Kimuli, a celebrated radioman, social consciousness campaigner and playwright, is an example of what kind of person lady luck could choose to smile on.

He is Pablo, the crazy presenter in the morning on Power FM and his face has been plastered on Y.E.A.H billbords showing what it means to be a real man.

Young Empowered And Healthy (Y.E.A.H) is a community health NGO campaign. He has achieved a feat many of his contemporaries can only dream about, by being invited to the prestigious Sundance festival in US.

Every year, celebrated artistes from around the world gather at the Sundance Resort, the home of the Sundance Institute's Summer programmes to display their works and to get more ideas. 15 plays and 15 directors are chosen from the world of theatre, film and music and those chosen get to present their work at the end of the three week period in which the programme runs.

Nearly 90 percent of the work developed at the institute's Theatre Lab from the last four years has gone on to full production. Some of the well known names that have grown out of Sundance activities include American filmmakers, Steven Soderberg (Sex, Lies and Videotape), Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction) and Doug Liman (Go).

The festival attracts mostly independent productions. Lately, films from Sundance have gone on to become important enough to be nominated for the Academy Awards (the Oscars.)

Kimuli is in the US at the invitation of the institute's director, Philip Himberg. He goes as the participant from Uganda, not only to observe but also to present some of his writing. He is expected to observe the workings of the laboratory and participate in discussions about Sundance Institute's new East Africa Initiative. He will also present one of his latest plays, Madness is Coming, a production that will be done by the Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) drama team later this year.

"I met the director of Sundance Institute in 2003. He was doing some work in Uganda and we met over a cup of tea to discuss theatre in Uganda. Four years later, he sends me an email inviting me to be part of the theatre lab," Kimuli said in an interview.

An artiste best known for his work on the social responsibility radio programme, Rock Point 256, he was invited to the event by what he describes as luck. He does not see himself as worthy of the honour and he believes he has not reached the point in his career that merits an invite to Sundance.

He's the production director of Rock Point 256, a radio serial drama that is recorded in five languages and aired on 15 radio stations around Uganda. He's also a radio presenter on 104.1 Power FM, a Christian radio station. He directed KPC drama team's Buried in the Dark and wrote for them the play, One Night Stand.

He has acted in several plays such as Lwanda Magere, Prologue in Heaven, One Night Stand, The Adams, and in Samuel Buckett's plays. He does stand up comedy with Theatre Factory, an acclaimed comedy group in Uganda.

Kimuli is also part of Hahaha Fun House, which is part of the KPC worship ministries. He is also an occasional emcee at the Uganda Cultural Centre.

"I am not the only Ugandan who has been to the festival," he clarifies. "Other Ugandans who have been there include Philip Luswata, Deborah Asiimwe and Charles Mulekwa." The three are acclaimed playwrights and are important members of the drama fraternity in Uganda.

Visitors to the weekly comedy show, Comedy Night, held by the Theatre Factory at the Uganda National Cultural Centre will remember Kimuli as one of the funniest of the ensemble made up of some of Kampala's most gifted performers. Kimuli is in Sundance with Mumbi Kaigwa, the only other East African at the festival. Kaigwa has been involved in drama for 30 years and is famously known for staging the controversial play, Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues in Nairobi Kenya in 2003.

Kimuli believes he will come back to Uganda better equipped. "Sundance is planning to start a partnership with Uganda. This is a great opportunity for upcoming artistes. We shall have exchange programmes and create openings for those interested in writing. The experience at Sundance is enough to enhance my writing skills," Kimuli enthused.

To Kimuli, Sundance Theatre institute is like Havard University to the theatre world.

orking with celebrated artistes like Robert Redford, and other renowned artistes in America is the peak of a theatre practitioner's career. I'm humbled by this great opportunity given the fact that I never went to a drama school," he states.

Kimuli's star is only rising. In his words, "Chance finds those who are prepared."