In Memoriam: Professor Jane Plastow (1958–2025)

Professor Jane Plastow

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Jane Plastow, a distinguished scholar, theatre director, and passionate advocate for community-based arts and African performance cultures. Professor Plastow passed away in September 2025. She leaves a legacy of academic excellence, creative innovation, and profound social impact. 

Jane was educated at the University of Manchester and was a valued colleague in the School of English, University of Leeds since her appointment in 1994. Her work with Martin Banham at the Workshop Theatre was celebrated as part of the University of Leeds 110-year celebrations. In recognition of her generous and fearless intellectual leadership, Jane was promoted to Professor of African Theatre in 2006, with the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka attending her inaugural lecture.  Over the course of her remarkable career, she dedicated herself to teaching, research, and creative practice, with a particular focus on East Africa. Her work took her to Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somaliland, Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, where she lived, researched, collaborated, and co-created with local communities. 

A leading Africanist, Jane’s research spanned African theatre and literature, education, development studies, and gender studies. She was especially committed to Theatre for Development and the power of performance in local languages to effect meaningful change. Her long-term, community-based projects in Kenya and Uganda exemplified her belief in durational, responsive, and collaborative arts practices. 

Jane led the Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) for a decade. She was passionate about LUCAS and championed it as a vibrant hub of common purpose and buoyant morale. Under Jane’s direction, LUCAS grew from a small network of committed Africanists to a flourishing and active interdisciplinary community within and beyond University walls.  She led the LUCAS Schools Project, in which PhD students visited local schools and educated delighted Leeds pupils into the fascinations and nuances of multiple African contexts. Jane was a motive force in ensuring that a highly successful African Studies Association United Kingdom  conference gathered at the University of Leeds in 2012. 

Jane’s scholarly contributions were vast and influential. Her recent co-edited volume, Community-based Arts, Research and Activism in Uganda: We Are Walukuba (Methuen, 2025), and her forthcoming monograph Somali Musical Theatre (Cambridge University Press, 2026), reflect her enduring commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices and performance traditions. Her unrivalled experience of working in East Africa would also lead to the two volume publication A History of East African Theatre (2020/2021). Meticulously researched, the books capture the breadth of artistic work practices of theatre companies and practitioners across the region. Amongst other major projects, she also led the AHRC-funded project Communication and Creativity, exploring how creativity can support communication in deprived communities across the UK, Kenya, and Uganda. The culmination of this research will see two major performances in the national theatres of Kenya and Uganda featuring professional actors and community groups.  

Jane supervised numerous PhD students from around the world, many of whom pursued Practice as Research projects in African arts and applied theatre. Her generosity, insight, and encouragement shaped the careers of many emerging scholars and practitioners. She championed women researchers and feminist politics throughout her career. 

Jane’s creative outputs were as impactful as her academic work. From radio dramas addressing sexual reproductive health issues to multi-arts summer camps in Ugandan schools, her work consistently engaged with urgent social issues through accessible and powerful storytelling. Her artistic work was well revered with a notable production of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want) in Eritrea, which Ngũgĩ himself would attend. It would begin a lasting scholarly relationship between Jane and the late giant of African Literature.  

Professor Jane Plastow will be remembered not only for her scholarly brilliance and artistic vision but also for her unwavering dedication to social justice, equity, and the transformative power of the arts. She leaves behind a global community of colleagues, students, and collaborators and friends who continue to be inspired by her life and work. 

By Dr Brendon Nicholls (Director, Leeds University Centre for African Studies) and Dr Matthew Elliott (School of Performance and Cultural Industries), University of Leeds