Review: ‘Don’t Mess With A Woman’, a tale well told but badly sang

The one thing that can beat a cool weekend night when one is wrapped in a blanket, sipping red wine on the rocks and watching a Tyler Perry comedy or a fiery blockbuster movie, is a night out at the National Theatre with renowned playwright, Uncle Ebo Whyte.

Unlike most producers of dramatic artworks, Uncle Ebo Whyte has consistently told his humour-filled stories laced with a tinge of satire interpreted by characters that portray the daily routine of most Ghanaians. What one will ordinarily ignore as the humdrum of everyday life, Uncle Ebo Whyte turns into such an exciting thought-provoking lesson time for all who care to listen or watch.

After watching a number of his stage crafts, you can’t help but come to the conclusion that Ebo Whyte is one of the few prolific directors/writers who can leave you lost in a long labyrinth of dramatic fun intertwined with true life lessons intended to bring progressive change to your life.

“Don’t Mess with a Woman”, is the latest from the stables of Ebo Whyte’s Roverman Productions, which is currently showing at the National Theatre.

This piece is, thus, an attempt to critique the work of a man who is unquestionably Ghana’s best dramatist at the moment.

Dialogue

The curtain raises with two BFFs (Best Friends Forever) -Naa and Yaa - chit-chatting about an upcoming wedding between, guess what, one of their BFFs and Naa’s boyfriend with whom there was no official break-up.

The conversation transcends your usual exaggerations typical of the stage. Throughout the two-hours or so play, there was something to make one burst out in laughter: The twinglish (a blend of English and Twi) was used with the desirable pace and rhythm that could allow foreigners to guess what is said at specific intervals.

For all that it’s worth, the dialogue was more unofficial, perfectly timed with some colloquialisms to give it the needed dramatic effect.

When a man who fathered a child with another woman on the night of his honeymoon is confronted with the hard truth on the anniversary of his marriage, the state of bewilderment alone was enough to make him ask the crying baby: “do you want some champagne?” And this is just an iota of the comical banter one is treated to in this play.

Costume

For a melodrama, the outfits were spot on; the colour shades and tones by the female characters were bright enough to light up the stage. For the costume, there isn’t much to talk about aside the fact that for the first time, you will be made to question your good or evil conscience through the lens of costuming.

The moral of the lesson, according to Ebo Whyte is that, not everything in white is right. During a difficult moment, what seems to you as the most appropriate decision might just be coming from a demon clothed in the glittering armour of a saint.

Storyline

The narrative was well thought through and woven seamlessly from the opening of each Act and Scene to the characteristic final dance of the characters.

It gets a bit fuzzy when a guru is introduced in one of the scenes. Cynthia, a lady accused of stealing, or better yet, snatching the boyfriend of her best friend is utterly shattered when she realised that this best friend in question, Naa, schemed to sleep with Tony (her husband) on the night of their wedding.

Cynthia then plots to pay Naa in her own coin. Naa’s coin, however, is the illusion of a visit to a grandmother who was said to be a powerful fetish priestess where a spell was cast on Cynthia’s husband.

As Cynthia desperately hunted for the decision that will bring some sanity to her person, a guru (an India trained spiritualist) walked in to offer her some virtuous counsel. What beats one’s understanding is the attempt to postulate that the Christian God can use a guru (spiritualist) to correct His wayward children.

More so, it gets even more indistinct for a younger audience who are made to believe that it is possible to get wise counsel from a fetish priest. There is no gainsaying the fact that “Don’t Mess With A Woman” is meant to entertain, but underlying Uncle Whyte’s plays is a deeper quest to bring change to people by challenging one’s perceptions and character traits.

Therefore, stretching the argument, it is certainly probable for God to use whatever vessel to prick the conscience of His children, even a guru; but is it not possible that the way the message was couched could create more illusions than intended? Just saying!

Singing and Dancing

For all the artistic displays that Uncle Ebo Whyte gets right, the selection of singers is not exactly his forte. Throughout the period of the play, one cringes as the characters try desperately to sing songs that match a specific plot.

One would assume that for most part of the singing, it would be acceptable albeit weird, to have a voice extension in the background that would sing while the characters mimic. If this is synced perfectly, it might even go unnoticed. The expensive alternative is to make the effort to get great actors with good-enough vocal dexterity. This may not be your typical Western cantata but it certainly is fun to watch if the singing does not hurt the eardrum.

It is not possible to have enough of the dance moves, though! A range of Azonto moves interspersed with a bit of Hindi moves. Quite hilarious, you would think.

Language

Sometimes, it is vital to overlook the flippant use of swear words in our movies because of the advantage of colour and authenticity it adds to the production. It is however overpowering to consistently hear insults being traded between two characters on stage with the intent of pumping up the humour a notch higher.

Sometimes when the insults are being fired on stage, one is left wondering if it is not a verbal assault coming from a nearby home in an archetypal slum.

This is just to say that at some point, one cannot help but think that the exchanges get quite uncanny and should be rated, maybe, PG for the sake of the children.

Conclusion

Uncle Whyte has left an ineffaceable mark on the theatre scene in Ghana and his works keep getting better by the quarter. He has striven to keep his promise of producing four plays every year for the past three or so years.

What makes him such a bright spot is his ability to take ‘Ghanaian’ problems and make them hahaha-funny. He is capable of making the ordinary look extra-ordinary on stage and the boring,hysterical.

If you pay money to watch a play that does not make you go “aaaaahhhh I see!” you are better off spending it on domedo (fried pork). “Do Not Mess With A Woman” will still show at the National Theatre this coming weekend.

Do yourself and your woman (or man) a favour and get a ticket because Ebo Whyte will teach you why you should always say “it is over between us” before you walk away from a relationship; because a woman would never know the mischief she is capable of conjuring until she is pushed to the wall.