Sam Ukala

Who is Sam Ukala?

Sam Ukala is a Nigerian playwright, poet, short story writer, actor, theatre director, film producer and academic. He has been Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at a number of Nigerian universities, including Edo State University and Delta State University. In 1993/94, as an academic staff fellow, he also researched and taught at the School of English Workshop Theatre of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. As an academic, he propounded the theory of 'folkism', the tendency to base literary plays on indigenous history and culture and to compose and perform them in accordance with the aesthetics of African folktale composition and performance. He is currently Chairman of the Delta State Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors.

His published plays include The Slave Wife, The Log in Your Eye, Akpakaland, and Break a Boil. He also worked with Horse and Bamboo Theatre in 1999 and wrote Harvest of Ghosts, which toured the UK and the Netherlands.