A Review on Martin Owusu’s play The Legend of Aku Sika Staged at the SCA Theatre , UEW on the 21st – 24th March, 2024.
Synopsis of the play
The Legend of Aku Sika is a play written by Professor Martin Okyere Owusu based on a popular African folktale . As a social play , it recounts the plight of a young girl who is denied love because she is short of a limb. Forced into public humiliation to reveal her deformity, she chooses death over disgrace, but fate had other plans for her.A Heavenly creature restores her hand and she defies all odds and marries the King.
The play Set in celestial and earthly realms, and discusses critical issues such as the prejudice towards physically challenged individuals, Polygamy and the role of divine destiny in the making or unmaking of a person.
This review in particular critiques only the performance that took place on Sunday the 24th of March,2024.
This review will look at the acting(delivery of the lines mostly, gestures , blocking) , sound, set, makeup and costume , light as well as audience participation. Not forgetting how the theatrical elements projected the critical issues in the play. Finally, the production will be scored over 10 based on the aesthetics presented.
Firstly, with the acting ,Major characters such as Narrator, Aku, King, Nana Yere, Okyeame,Yaa and Queen mother will be touched on. Other supporting characters such as The Man, Mortal Spirits, Sage,Fate Supreme Being and Spirit leader will be touched on.
The Narrator took charge of the stage. His opening scene was great. Only that some lines were swallowed and wasn’t quite audible. But in his subsequent scenes, he came back refreshed and did justice to his commentary embodying a lot of emotions and relating to the audience very well. The way he ended the play was very interesting .
Also ,Aku the eponymous character was overwhelming to watch. She did justice to her lines. The clarity in her voice was just amazing. Crying and calling on her late mother to help her as she faces prejudice in the cruel community. That for me was just emotional, Good acting on her part. Her blockings on the stage made her confined and was situated at specific areas of stage to project how the society despised people of her kind(deformed). She is also mostly the last to leave the stage. That is to tell you that she was really sidelined. Her relationship with the old woman was also very cordial. The way Aku held the suspense before showing her golden all to everyone was just brilliant. Superb timing.
To the King himself. He was just a spectacle to watch. He walked majestically and danced gracefully to tease his own wife who didn’t like her future rival Aku. Good blocking there . His inflections were great and carried great energy on stage as the King . His relationship with his sister Yaa , the Okyeame and other elders was very invigorating. Prince Arthur who played that role was just a whole spectacle to watch.
Nana Yere is was also quite compelling to watch. She really executed her role and doesn’t give room for people like Aku. She also demonstrated his gullibility by believing whatever “the man” told her. Her infections were equally good as exaggerated some of her lines to create more meaning. However, she rushed over some lines and didn’t break the thoughts in the line” I shall reward you plentifully but for now..” She could have made more meaning to that.
However she did well as her presence was always felt on stage as the antagonist to Aku.
The Queen mother wasn’t too convincing for me. She did some mechanical acting by pointing to her ears and eyes on the line “my eyes have seen and my ears have heard”
Those gestures didn’t work for me. She could have just used her voice. Nevertheless, she also played her role as the Queen mother for all and interceded for Yaa not to be killed. The way she knelt before the king was compelling.
With the supporting characters like Supreme being. The voices were in unison. And the echoes made them sound as supreme beings and not a mere humans. They delivered well, great synchronization.
However, there were parts that were telescoping occurred and you could hardly hear the words of the two supreme beings.
Still on the heavenly creatures, The mortal Spirit was very convincing and obeyed the voice of the master. His dance movements added more meaning to his role as the savior sent from heaven to redeem Aku. His encounter with Aku was abrasive .
Again, Fate was also enjoyable to watch. Most of his lines were poetic and he could have delivered it better since poetry dwells more on emotions. However ,He has still got some emotions in his dance moves to still register that he is Fate and that what is destined cannot be changed.
The mortal spirts were equally interesting to watch. They really enhanced the atmosphere.
Now from the Heavenly creatures to the Earthly creatures, The Okyeame also mastered his role. He served the king duly and was in Charcter the whole time. As a linking character between the people and the King, he communicated well. His stage business was also on point as well his delivery of the lines. He missed an important mark and sounded flat on the word “there” during the summon of Aku to reveal her hand. That day was very important and that particular day had been long awaited and such emphasis should have been placed on “there” to show that the day had finally come.
Before I forget, The “man” was just inviting on stage. Excellent characterization. He understood his role and fed Nana Yere with concrete information concerning Aku’s deformed hand. His facial gestures and blocking were humorous. He mostly exaggerated his speeches and immediately disassociated himself from Nana yere upon realising that Aku had a Golden arm. He is very skilled with his characterization. I must confess that the comic relief in the play laid on his shoulders. However, at some point I felt he was playing to the gallery and getting too much attention. But aside from that, he was aesthetically pleasing.
The last amongst them for discussion is Oldwoman. She nailed her role as partially blind. Her gestures were on point and her stick was used artistically to confirm that she was partially blind. Her conversation with Aku; Yaa and Okyeame was really confirmed “believability”.
Finally, the durbar scene was really charged with the presence of the maids, dancers , Executioners, Flag bearers, drummers ,Singers, Guards. Not forgetting the Court elders who were divided into two , one side in support of the king and the other side vehemently against him. They all made the coronation and news surrounding Aku very tensed and captivating.
Now to the technical side, let us look at how the technical elements were deployed to add on to the issues discussed in the play.
The set for instance was classic and very pleasing to eyes. The Eagle as the totem of the King was erected. The Eagle depicted the King’s Wisdom and Strength. Such a Great Palace. The actors utilised the set especially the King, Okyeame , Elders Nana Yere and many others.
The backdrop painted as the house of the Oldwoman also looked real and was effectively utilized by the cast. The forest or river side scene was equally enhanced with the forest projection . It was true to life.
Now to light, wow. The effect was just another spectacle for me. The celestial scene was filled with great color blends of light. Not forgetting the fog light used occasionally to enhance the mood. During the snake scene , Light did justice to the wow effect ,good job.
My only issue with light was the spotlight, it sometimes didn’t spot the narrator well.
The sound was done effortlessly. The thunder sound, drums played( talking drum) and the house music all set the mood for the action to follow. The house music about Aku Sika was perfectly chosen.The singers also added voices to energize the coronation scene.
The make up was well applied. The make up for the Old woman, Chiefs were all good. That of the narrator was also great. Just that the narrator had a smooth skin and some of the white clay was around his neck.. Which was stale to me.
Most importantly, the special effects make up stole the show. The golden hand of Aku astonishingly graced the show. This indeed confirmed that fate played a crucial role in the life of Aku Sika.
The props such as the calabash, baskets, the snake (another Wow effect ).One could hardly take off his or her eyes off the snake, beautiful display. The spears and the flags were utilized well.The fire wood, stools and most importantly the flaming sword used by the King gave a great compliment to their characterization . Another wow effect.
The problem was that the Okyeame had no lingust staff. Maybe there is an explanation to that .
The costumes like the King’s regalia, Queen mother’s, Aku’s faded cloth and many others all added meaning to the play. Not forgetting the all white costumes used by the Heavenly creatures to connote holiness.
And as a lovely audience writing this review. I will admit that we audience had a good time watching Aku, The Man, Okyeame, Nana Yere, King, Elders, Old Woman, Narrator, and the heavenly creatures. They really carried the day. As a reviewer looking out for aesthetics, I will rate this production 8/10. I believe this is a masterpiece and all the departments worked together perfectly. Perfect collaboration. Again, the play was 32 minutes late. It started at 7:32 pm instead of 7 pm on the dot.. The actors and crew have all done well. The three directors namely Dr.johson Edu, Dr. Latipher Appiah-Agyei, and Mr. Godfred Asare superb attempts and great treatment of the play.
Written by. Mensah Junior Raphael, BA. Theatre Arts,UEW
Thank you for your audience.
,,*From your detailed reviewer.*(0272138148)