Marketing Trauma and the Theatre of War in Northern Uganda

This essay explores the ways in which theatre and performance are used to market trauma and humanitarianism in northern Uganda, where a civil war has been waging between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government since the late 1980s. Specifically, the article focuses on the dynamics of performance in a rehabilitation center for former child soldiers sponsored by World Vision. I draw upon my observations and personal experiences at the center to suggest that drama is valued primarily as a marketing tool to reach international and national audiences. In addressing specific variations upon the narrative of war, however, I find that theoretical frameworks of globalization and marketing do not satisfactorily explain the fierce investment in a linear story and the trappings of realism. The final section argues that former LRA captives use indigenous dances to carve out a space in which cultural memory and globalization intersect.