From White Wedding to Beggars
What happens on stage when a prostitute, pimp, pastor, police officer, politician, professor and a hardened criminal get entangled with magic, comedy, poetry, dance, digital images and music in an attempt to send out one message?
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Well, that may appear like total mayhem to some people but those are the varied elements rapper-singer, Okyeame Kwame, has assembled for his second Versatile Show slated for November 8 at the National Theatre.
The first Versatile Show came off in 2012 and it sailed smoothly, especially on the drama component titled White Wedding.
The show, however, did not happen last year due mainly to challenges with sponsorship. This year, Okyeame Kwame is back on the block and philosophically looking at society through the eyes of beggars.
The Rap Dacta has appropriately titled this year’s work, The Beggars. That’s because, though some of the key characters in there don’t necessarily sit by the road and beg, their overall conduct give them away as beggars in disguise.
The musician, for instance, despite his talent, goes round begging for sponsorship before staging a show.
The politician also, after collecting the people’s taxes, goes globetrotting begging for grants and all sorts of bailout programmes from abroad
“The production is essentially about our society, how we treat each other and how we utilise the resources we are endowed with,” says Okyeame.
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“There are also issues in there about religion and God’s existence and ‘sakawa’ by young people as well as mob justice but they all flow on the wings of music, dance, poetry and other artistic renditions.”
Unlike the previous production which was segmented into an hour each for music and drama, the upcoming Versatile Show is a 90-minute mixture of everything.
“We learnt some crucial lessons about pace from the last one. So this time around, all the elements merge to move the story forward.”
Artistes Okyeame has brought on board to help tell The Beggars story effectively include Wanlov, Adjetey ‘Pusher’ Anang, Ben Brako, Benjamin Kwadey, Ecow Smith-Asante, Samini, Bradez, Edem, EL, Keche, Adina and Noyam Dance Institute.
Roverman Production is involved from the drama aspect while Prof. Nii Yartey and his dancer-choreographer son, Nii Tete, also sort out the dance bits.
This year’s Versatile Show, according to the producers, One Mic Entertainment, would play in some regional capitals after the Accra programme.