Ghana @50 Secretariat continues the Ghanaian Theatre Classics at the National Theatre with Martin Owusu’s ECRAG Award-winning play, The Legend of Aku Sika from November 22 to 25, at 7.30 p.m. each night.

There is a matinee performance for children on Saturday 24, 2007, at 2.00 p.m It is directed by the playwright himself, Martin Owusu..

This play raises issues with social attitudes towards the disabled or physically challenged individuals in the community, both traditional and modern. This concern is appropriate for the November theme of "a healthy people".

The play is set first in "Heaven", where Supreme Being, Odomankoma, Creator of Life, prepares and releases the souls of the key characters – Aku, Nanayere (the King’s eldest wife), and Aku’s father – to earth.

Their destinies are read out by "Fate", after which Supreme Being commands Royal Elder to intervene in Aku’s life, plagued by misfortune and pain, in order to restore her to eternal happiness.

The next setting is on Earth. Nanayere (the King’s eldest wife) accuses her husband of disrespecting her, his ancestral throne and the gods, because he plans to marry Aku, a maiden who is short of a limb.

Intrigues, plans for dethronement, confrontation among the royal household and, indeed, the entire community are resolved through direct divine intervention.

The image of the "Snake" (Python) in the play as the medium of healing in the traditional folk-tale from which the play is crafted is an interesting parallel to the Biblical "serpent" (not the tempter of Eve in the garden of Eden), but the symbol of healing in the Old Testament (Book of Numbers), which is also the symbol of modern medical profession.

The play is both a commentary on the traditional national psyche, regarding the negative attitudes towards the "deformed" (more appropriately physically challenged) in society, "whose physical make-up is neither a social crime nor the measure of human imperfection." In the words of Aku, "love is what I need, not pity; encouragement to go on, not tears of despair."

THE PLAYWRIGHT

Martin Okyere Owusu is an Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana. He is also a former Director of the School.

He earned a Ph.D. degree in English and American Literature from Brandeis University, and an M.Litt from Bristol University. He first obtained a Diploma in Theatre Studies from the University of Ghana. He taught at several universities in the U.S.A, and the University of Cape Coast.

As a lecturer at the University of Ghana, his special areas are Play Analysis and Interpretation, Playwriting and Directing.

He has also carried out several research and creative projects for educational institutions and corporate bodies.

Owusu has written and published many critical and creative works, including The Mightier Sword, The Sudden Return, Anane, The Story Ananse Told, and several plays for television.

The Legend of Aku Sika, based on a popular Ghanaian folk-tale, is one of his major plays.based on a popular Ghanaian folk-tale, is one of his major plays.

Professor Owusu is also the producer of the Ghana@50 Theatre Classics series.