“I Spend Ghc.80,000 On Production”

Uncle Ebo Whyte of Roverman`s Production is a renowned figure in the theatre world so when we at Flex newspaper heard him make such a statement, we were surprised but we sympathized him with principles as he has the clout to solicit for funds to complete whatever production he would want to do.

Though he might as well have his challenges as much as looking for sponsors is concerned, he has a track record to have gotten the Ghc80,000 therefore resulting in him producing umpteenth theatrical materials over the years.

Currently, Uncle Ebo Whyte is the leading playwright in the country, and he has brought us the award winning theatrical display over the years at the National theatre. He has what it takes to produce as many drama sessions as possible but has someone stopped asking this question. What will happen, should Uncle Ebo Whyte leave the industry one day?

Can the new crop of directors and producers of theatre arts cough out such figures to produce and direct their shows in these hard times?

In fact, this is alarming and threatens the very foundation of theatre activities in Ghana. On some few occasions, we had heard Uncle Ebo Whyte complaining about the high cost of producing theatre products, but the whole thing got scarier when he came out with the specific figures involved.

Ghc.80,000 is no joke to come by and for some young University graduate who wants to enter into this area, how do we expect such a person to survive.

So far, some young and dynamic directors like George Quaye of Charter House, Karim and a few others have tried to pull some shows through but we are sure with great difficulty and that explains why they have not tried it again.

It should be remembered that George Quaye has once written extensively and emotionally on this topic before, but we did not feel his pain despite the emotions he poured out.

But thinking about spending Ghc.80,000 on one production sends shivers down the spine of every right thinking individual, and we suggest something must be done quickly about this before it gets out of hands.

This is a serious issue which needs swift intervention else the theatre industry will collapse, but shockingly, industry people will never pay attention to such a story but the ones with sensational headlines with little meaning.

No wonder we keep adding up to the number of musicians in the country but less and fewer people trying to venture into other disciplines.

The demands there are higher than expected unlike in music where a few hundreds of Ghana cedis can produce equally good song to be consumed by the masses and in turn winning both local and international awards.

Let`s start looking for solutions else!!!