Mother’s Tears on Mother’s Day

The reason for which the National Theatre decided to put up Mother’s Tears on Mother’s Day must have been lost on the large audience that turned up to watch the old play over last weekend.

Contrary to general expectation that a play on Mother’s Day will have something profound to show about mother-child relationships, the thrust of the drama was rather on Kweku Amponsah, a middle-aged fisherman and his turbulent relationship with his two wives on one hand and with his son on another.

However, some fun remained as patrons had a lot to laugh about from the performances of characters Ama Adoma, Aba Gyasiwa and Kwabena Annan.

The main story is rather a gloomy one. Amponsah marries a second wife who is decades younger than himself and his first wife. To make matters more complicated, the young wife used to be the girlfriend of Amponsah’s son, Kofi Antobam. Given such a scenario, many conflicts arise.

For patrons with an eye for quality acting, Kwaw Ansah’s Mother’s Tears as performed by Abibigromma and United Artists, presented a peep into the pool of exceptionally good acting talents we have in this country which are not often made manifest.

It was such a pleasure watching veterans of the stage and screen such as David Dontoh, Fred Amugi, Abi Adatsi, Mawuli Semevor and Edinam Atatsi, return to play together in the production. It was phenomenal and the audience seemed to like it. Last Sunday, when each of  veterans made their first appearance on stage, the applause was considerable.

Perhaps this is a good time for Abibigromma and the National Theatre to follow up Mother’s Tears  with more plays featuring those actors who know how to work the theatre best.