April Communications Ltd., producers of the latest stage drama ‘Prison Graduates’ deserve a pat on the back for putting together a good production for thousands of patrons that thronged the National Theatre over the weekend to watch the four-cast drama.
The play which was written by the late Efo Kodjo Mawugbe also featured great talents like Adjetey Anang, Clemento Suarez, Oheneba and Chapman. The story was centred on four friends who had received presidential pardon from prison and sought to rebuild their lives in modern day Ghana.
Some of the themes the play touched on are judgement debt, visa fraud, suicide, Delta Force, visa acquisition and public service. The one hour and thirty minutes drama did not only make the audience laugh but also educated them on the current happenings in the country.
The drama pointed out the loopholes in Ghana’s political system and the frustration the youth, including the strife graduates go through to find job in the country.
Scenes like a daily prayer by a civil servant that is “give us this day our daily bribe, and help us steal from those who pass through our hands”….. And an encounter at a foreign embassy was enough to crack the ribs of all patrons.
Speaking to Citi Showbiz, the director of the play, Fiifi Coleman, said the production was to highlight the call for change and whether the change promised was taking effect. According to him, the play was perfectly portrayed to achieve its intended objectives.
“The visa scene about how much we are spending and even the cash and carry, how the church is portrayed now and how pastors are making money from innocent people, that entire message is out there now and people are receiving it. The joy for me as a director is that even if one person out of the thousands who came here to see this play walks out of here as an instrument for change, that this is my country and I won’t travel outside to labour in another country, that is a success for me,” he said.
On the cost of production, Mr. Coleman lamented about the difficulty in getting sponsors and called for more support from the corporate world.
“April communications has done a great job putting this together. All we are saying is just help us out. There are so many new companies coming up and they are all depending on government for help but the private sector can also help. We have all these companies with their social responsibility and they are now willing to help, so come to our aide when we come to you for help. Just help us out because we are willing to do the work,” Mr. Coleman said.
The next production by the team is expected in July, and will be a stage version of the movie, ‘I Told You So.’
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