SYNOPSIS OF “THE 4 PLAY”
Dr. Tilly is a cantankerous renowned surgeon and a politician who divorces Wilberforce, a successful businessman and politician. These two are like fuel and fire, but Faith, their only daughter, plots with her Fiance Gabby, and books them (Tilly and Wilberforce) into the same suite on the eve of her wedding so that they can reconcile and come back as a family.
However, this plan catches fire as Tilly and Wilberforce meet again a decade after the Divorce and are still unable to settle their differences. Tempers boil as they keep accusing each other of the cause of divorce and threaten to cancel the wedding of daughter Faith.
At the climax, Gabby, who had disguised himself as a Butler( Jasper), reveals his true identity as the Fiance of Faith, having witnessed the endless fights between the couple. The family is plugged into an endless confusion, but at last, they agree to let the past go. Tilly and Wilberforce decide to remarry and again give the go-ahead for Gabby to also marry Faith.
The play has a modern-day relevance as it addresses how suspicion, hatred, and unforgiveness can rip a marriage apart. Not only this, but it presents the challenges associated with broken homes and the Political happenings in Ghana.
Finally, it subtly addresses how the Ghanaian economy is facing setbacks even after the mineral resources deposits.
Interestingly the play is made up of four characters just as the Title ” The 4 Play” the characters are Gabby, Tilly, Wilberforce and Faith . The other four minor characters are the Four Chorus or guards.
This review will assess the actors’ acting skills, set design, lighting and sound, costume and makeup, and audience participation and provide an overall rating out of 10.
The production was staged for three days, i.e 29th, 30th November and 1st December,2024 . This review will focus on events of Sunday, 1st December, specifically the 8 pm show, and as such, events from the previous shows will not be highlighted in this write-up.
The actors for this particular project understood their characters and played them perfectly.
The chorus, who doubled as guards, did extremely well. They opened the curtain with a spectacular performance as singers and then switched to statue positions. It was just a great spectacle to watch. It was well coordinated and had great blocking. At first, I thought they were doing lips singing because it was too good to be true. The Harmony in their voices was just soothing to listen to as they progressively added life to the play anytime they sang. They also danced Gracefully as they made beautiful robotic moves. They caught the audience’s attention with their freezing and unfreezing mechanism. Very beautiful to watch.
Lastly, they also served as comic relief anytime there was tension on stage. The ad-libs from the Male Chorus (singer ) were just on point.
Gabby, who doubled as Jasper, was just phenomenal to watch. At the exposition of the drama, He is very tense and anxious about the wedding as He fears Faith’s parents will cancel the wedding. He made the audience believe that he was really in trouble.
He is a talented actor seeing him switch into Jasper and maintain that accent. He was jovial and pitied his guests, especially Tilly and Wilberforce. He handled the role perfectly, especially his funny remarks about Ghanaian Foods like “Waakye,” and “Sobolo”
His entrances and exits were well orchestrated. Not forgetting how swiftly he responds to the bell anytime, it is rung.
It was interesting to also watch him switch back to the character “Gabby” effortlessly and managed to win back Faith after the cacophony and conspiracy theories put forward by his Mother-in-law Tilly about the sexual health of his Fiancee “Faith”. His facial expressions and inflections communicated everything.
Now to the Tilly, Wow. She killed her role. She was all over the stage and stole the show. Her energy was very high. Right from welcoming her entry as a guest and then to the unforgiving ex-wife who meets her ex-husband after 10 years. I must admit that the rapport between her and Jasper was believable and convincing as a guest and Hotel Attendant.
Again, her heated argument and drama with her ex-husband was such a great spectacle. For instance, the “pepper-induced tea” to the “Silva-made juice.”
Again, Her relationship with Faith was established visually as a mother and daughter through their conversations and rapport.
Her reconciliation with her husband was awesome. My only challenge with her was that at the early stages, whenever she froze on stage for another action to take place, she shook a bit and was unable to remain “dead.” Nevertheless, she did extremely well, especially with the songs she sang.
And to the Ex-Husband Wilberforce. He nailed his role too. His anger registered aesthetically on the stage.
His relationship with his daughter was beautiful showcasing a father who always treasures his only child.
Not forgetting his calculated conversations with Jasper, the Butler. Those moments were refreshing to watch too. He took charge of the stage, and his presence was felt anytime he showed up. His facial expressions when he requested “Five minutes of intimacy with his Tilly is commendable. He also sang well to complement his role.
Last among them is Faith.
Faith made the audience believe that she is truly a lawyer. Her mannerisms and intonations depicted her profession. She demonstrated that she was also anxious about the plan to put her mother and father under the same roof. She handled her role well especially with the scenes where her mother and Father traded insults.
Moreover, How she threw the audience into suspense just to introduce Jasper (Gabby) to her parents was also fascinating.
Again, she reacted well to her mother’s fake report about her sexual health and also handled Gabby perfectly for believing and scolding her for something she is innocent about.
She was equally a great force who took the play on her shoulders and pulled the others along.
Set and Props
The set was well designed and well furnished to resemble a hotel. The gold color used was to show affluence. The beautiful and glittering chairs complemented the set. I love the flamingo or the sketch of Kissing couples on the set which symbolizes love. The set was decorated with beautiful flowers added life to the play.
The wine glasses, plates, napkins, and Jar all depicted the Hotel setting.
However, I still feel that as a hotel based in Canada and the description given, more beautification should have been done.
Costume and Makeup
The costume for this production was well-designed and pulled. That of the Chorus was simply the best. All adorned in golden attire. The mask, which is a symbol of the theatre, was also used. Surprisingly all the chorus wore golden masks. Jasper also wore a costume that presented him as a butler. When he switched to Gabby, he wore an expensive wristwatch to show his affluence. Tilly and Wilberforce also dressed as travelers. It was very smart that Tilly wore a Sweater as a shield to depict the cold weather in Canada. Not only this but her medicated spectacles also presents her as a Surgeon as most Surgeons wear spectacles. Also, Faith’s makeup was just perfect for her role as a lawyer. Wilberforce’s grey hair also showed that he was aging.
Lighting and Sound Design
Kudos to the lighting and sound designers for their outstanding work!
The chandeliers and the wall lights added to the aesthetics of the hotel.
The fade in and out of the light was done artistically. I will also commend the team for the red light that flooded the stage during the performance of the chorus to initiate the fighting scene of the couple.
The sound for this production is A1. Quality sound check. The actors were very audible when singing and acting at the same time.
Also, the song choices, right from the theme songs through to the end, were nothing but the best. It influenced the production immensely. Perfect songs were chosen. The ringtones for phone calls were played at the right time. Perfect timing. My little issue with sound was when Tilly said in a line that her phone was vibrating. Meanwhile, the sound team failed to provide a vibrating tone.
Audience Participation
The audience enjoyed the play and the Participation was excellent. They even sympathized with Wilberforce when he narrated his encounter with the supposed side chick. The audience kept chanting “Sure” to confirm the active participation. Also, references made to Popular Trends like the “Equatorial Guinea Man,” “We Listen, We Don’t Judge,” Flower Pot interchange, and Stonebwoy’s Jejereeje song got the audience rooting and engaged the audience throughout the play. As one of the gentle Patrons writing this review, I will say all the departments collaborated well to produce this masterpiece and thought-provoking piece. My little challenge was that the video advertisement(projection ), in my view, is quite a lot and may cause some audience to lose focus or steal their attention. Audio would have been better. But in all,
Well done, Roverman Production, The National Theatre Ghana, and Joy FM, for this wonderful collaboration. Overall, I will rate”The 4 Play”  9.98/10.
Written by Mensah Junior Raphael, BA Theatre Arts,UEW.
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