Theatre Review by Nana Yaw Sarpong

TITLE: Beauty and the Beast
WRITTEN BY: Linda Wolverton
ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY: Nicholas S.D. Asante
VENUE: Efua T. Sutherland Drama Studio
DATE: 11th – 14th February, 2010.
TIME: 7.30p.m.

It is a story with an all too familiar plot: an accursed prince turned to beast principally because he was unkind and disrespectful to an enchantress gets back his human form after slowly falling in love with the beautiful Belle whom he had taken earlier as slave. But what the "Beauty and the Beast" cast and crew enacted on the stage at the Efua T. Sutherland Drama Studio at the University of Ghana was more than just a love story. A play superbly laced with exquisite dance forms — not only is the strange steps of British ballroom dance made simple to a local audience but also the intricate moves of adowa brings forth a rare freshness to the performance.

"When she comes show her a smile" one of Beast's servants advised him. The play opens with a narration of how the once handsome prince became a beast and how the spell could be broken — the reciprocated love that is so powerful.

If not for the musicals that appear to slow down the plot, the play itself runs on fast wheels. From the very beginning of the play, the audience gets a sense of what is to come as Gaston (the young good-looking man, suitor of the beautiful Belle, who is so full of himself) bursts forth onto the stage with a large following — something he does throughout the whole play — including 3 bimbettes who show their master that he is a perfect match for Belle.

Meanwhile, Belle who is as adamant as ever to heed the wooing of Gaston dances about singing in all her gloriousness, much to the excitement of the audience.

A good laugh is something that one cannot miss in this performance. The play hits its peak when Maurice, Belle’s father who is later accused of insanity by the townsfolk, is aided by the deception of Gaston, and trespasses on the Palace of Beast. The servants who easily pass as trees among other shapes stoke the fire on which the humour pot sits boiling, delivering verses that easily sets the audience laughing.

There is no room for boredom whether on stage, through the singing and dancing up to the romantic scene where Belle says to Beast "You should learn to control your temper", causing Beast to change the trait which overshadows his character from the first time he graced the stage, to the point where the element of surprise manifests in Beast's response: "I’m sorry. I said I’m sorry." The scenes change swiftly from the angry Belle to the sweet loving Beast but take another sudden twist as Beast releases Belle who still was his prisoner, apparently because he loves her. The loose ends are tied when Gaston again instigates the townsfolk to march to Beast's palace shouting "Kill the Beast! Kill the Beast!" This leads Belle back into the palace; she confesses her love for Beast and in rapturous lightning Beast receives his wonderful human form again.

An excellent delivery by the characters with an occasional blight of pseudo-American accents — seemingly an attempt to capture a form of the British accent — one of the many strengths of this play lies in the musical scenes and the ability to fuse foreign dance forms with that of indigenous Ghanaian dances.

Nana Yaw Sarpong