Theater of the Absurd

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

As one who wrote and regularly performed my poetry at Anokyekrom of the Ghana National Cultural Center, in Kumasi, between 1979 and 1984, and then at the Accra Arts Center during then-Flt.-Lt. Rawlings' so-called Cultural Revolution, I perfectly appreciate the significance of theater facilities for the sound development of Ghanaian culture.

I must also quickly add that I was rarely privileged to have a father who contributed remarkably to the development of Ghanaian theater, both in the production of dramatic performances and, especially, lighting technology or the deft and esthetic use of lighting on the modern stage. Long before the establishment of the National Theater in Accra, on the same site as the Efua Sutherland-founded (Experimental) Ghana Drama Studio, it was my father who designed and set up the lighting system and prepared the klieg lights in the Great Hall of the University of Ghana.

And so, I could not but be very elated to learn about the announcement by Mrs. Elizabeth Ofori-Adjare, Ghana's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts that the Mahama government would soon "build an ultramodern and multipurpose theater in Kumasi" (See "Kumasi to get Ultramodern Theater" Vibeghana.com 1/17/14). According to the sector minister, the theater complex would also contain "a creational facility, ultramodern shopping mall, seminar and conference facilities for major international meetings and provide jobs for Ghanaians."

Well, I was far less enthusiastic about the job-creation part of the announcement, knowing what I know about the unacceptably high level of unemployment in the country, and in particular the fact that whatever number of jobs created by this admittedly noble project is highly unlikely to make any significant dent on the abject labor-incapacity front. I also couldn't care less about that portion of Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare's announcement that dealt with the intended use of the facility for seminars and conferences. The latter are things that governments in Ghana do very well. Perhaps, we are even better at these than any other government in the West African sub-region.

What I am worried about is the fact that, to-date, the government does not have any comprehensive program or agenda for seriously nurturing the creative talents of our youths right from kindergarten to the so-called tertiary level of our educational system. And unless the latter project is massively undertaken throughout the country, the proposed theater complex is highly unlikely to be utilized to its fullest capacity for both the esthetic and financial benefits of the venture, let alone make a logical spillover of such a laudable and noble venture into the remaining eight regions of the country.

I was also actually surprised that in her announcement heralding the commencement of the venture, Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare glaringly omitted mention of the establishment of a soccer-college wing of the so-called ultramodern and multipurpose theater in Kumasi. For, it can scarcely be gainsaid that soccer is one area of our national life which appears to be the most lucrative, thus the bizarre sentiments expressed by many a cabinet appointee who is shuffled out of the sports ministry into another that s/he is being unjustifiably punished.

What I am suggesting here is that to make the multiplex theater project worthwhile, the ministers of culture, education and youth ought to adopt a symphonic approach to this venture. Short of costumed dance performances, as my younger sister is wont to disdainfully cast it, there has not been much that has been formidably forthcoming on the global cultural front from Ghana. I, on the other hand, tend to believe that the problem may inhere more in the promotion strategy of the culture and tourism ministry.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
Jan. 17, 2014
E-mail: [email protected]
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