Martin Egblewogbe

The Love of a Nightingale: Modern questions in the light of an ancient Greek myth
The ancient Greek myth of the sisters Procne and Philomele, powerfully retold by Timberlake Wertenbaker, came alive in a masterful rendition of the play under the hands of directors Ekua Ekumah and Sarah Dorgbadzi.

The performance was presented by the School of Performing Arts of the University of Ghana, and the actors, who were mainly students from the School, put up a sterling performance.

The production run from the 28th of February to the 2nd of March, 2008. Attendance was however not encouraging: by my rating, it was poor to fair.

The play was held at the amphitheatre of the University of Ghana. This appeared to present certain challenges for the sound and lighting crew. In particular, the open air setting did not allow for the full realisation of lighting effects, but they made a fair job of it.

The acting, however, was superb. The actors, fully confident in their roles, brought the characters to life. There were no hesitations or urgent looks indicative of a call for the prompter, the narrative was fluid and the scene settings were flawless.

The gist of the story line runs thus: Two sisters Procne and Philomele are daughters of Athenian King Pandion. Philomele is married to Tereus, King of Thrace; whom she sends to bring her sister from Athens. During the trip from Athens by ship, Tereus rapes Procne and cuts out her tongue to 'silence' her. After about five years, Philomele discovers the truth, and in the vengeful backlash, Tereus' son Itys is killed.

Philomele (Dzidudu Darkey-Mensah) and Tereus (Issah Abdul Hameed L)

Philomele (Dzidudu Darkey-Mensah) and the Captain (Dominic Wolali)

I was entirely taken by the play - 'gripping' - is the word for such a performance. As a result of the excellent realisation of the characters, it was possible to anticipate events; the tension in the play was masterfully built up.

The Captain is thoughtful, quiet, on the deck of the ship one night pointing out Mount Athos, where women were certainly not allowed, due the belief that 'all harm in the world comes from women' (is this a metaphor as well?) The Captain's falling for the love of Procne earns him death at the hands of Tereus. When Philomele, raped by Tereus, launches into a biting verbal attack on his manhood, it is clear that his reaction would be violent; when Procne, unable to appreciate the warnings of the chorus persists in her naivety, one feels deeply for her impending disappointment.

The villainous nature of Tereus is revealed from the moment he kills the Captain of the ship: before that he had simply been a recklessly flirtatious rake.

The bloody end of the play - the slaughter if Tereus' son Itys by his mother - is not lightened by the idea that Procne, Philomele, and Tereus become birds and take to flight... but so much blood in a play is quite sufficient.

Worldwide, the play 'The Love of a Nightingale' arouses questions as to the 'nature of a man' vis-a-vis his relationship with women. Questions like, 'why do men rape little children and defenseless women'? are rife. Wertenbaker, whose profile indicates a woman of strong feminist inclination, puts forward an 'unwanted truth' in her play. But is Tereus a typical man, that we might use him to seek an answer to the question, 'Why are men like that'?

Maybe men are apt to make sexual advances impulsively. One could make a point of this being 'hard-wired' into the genes to ensure genetic propagation of self and species.

However, it can be argued that Tereus was not acting under impulse. Tereus engineered circumstances to allow for the rape of Philomele. Apart from the murder of the Captain (which was apparently impulsive), by delaying the return to Thrace, and lying to Philomele about her sister's death, Tereus planned the entire affair rather meticulously. This suggests more of a personality difficulty and social failing than a masculine attribute. The ever thoughtful Greeks seem to have had a word for such: hamartia.

But could Tereus be a typical rogue, and not a typical man? Or is a typical man in fact a rogue? Questions abound.

Meeting Sarah and Ekumah: Passion, Ideas, and Questions
I had the opportunity of a chat with the directors of 'The Love of the Nightingale' concerning that play and another, 'Marching for Fausa'. The interaction started out as an interview, became a question session (I was on the receiving end) and petered off into a conversation.

Here is a summary (of sorts) of the interaction. Questions were put by yours truly, and answers proffered by Ekua or Sarah, or by both. (Strangely, I seem to think of these two women as a single entity).

Q: What instructed the choice of the play [The Love of the Nightingale]?
A: It started by discovering that there is a certain hidden truth with a lot of women... just from talking to them, about seven out of ten women have encountered a situation of rape or near rape... many Ghanaian women were first introduced to sex by force ... they were not willing participants. [There is] an awful lot of silent protest going on. The story is endless.

We find that a lot of the women are unable to talk about it because of cultural implications... the woman ends up being blamed.

[So the question arises] what is that makes these men do what they do?

Q: Did it help [staging the play]?
A: [The intention was] to help a lot of women to sigh... [to experience] a cathartic moment... a healing.

Q: Do you think you are getting some satisfaction [out of your work]?
A: Yes, yes, yes and yes!

We also spoke about the play, Marching for Fausa. The play is a political piece written by Nigerian writer, Biyi Bandele. Again, here is a summary of the thoughts expressed by the two directors.

The main character is a female journalist who tries to investigate the issue of school children who have been arrested for protesting the forced marriage of one of their mates.

Most of the cast for 'Marching for Fausa' are the same as those who played in 'The Love of the Nightingale', and even though they are driven hard and challenged; they enjoy learning what they are learning...

The questions that we [need to] ask ourselves about the politicians are; What do they want? Whose interest are they seeking?

The play is so relevant [to us today]. The target audience is the youth. We would especially like to have a youthful audience - they [have] got to have something to believe in, something worth dying for. Ghanaian self-esteem must be built up.

We find that the majority of the people have no information; this play should make people stop and think.

The interaction with Sarah and Ekua was quite interesting and rather poignant; I left Sarah's office (where the interview took place) feeling that there are serious social and political questions that require attention. One thing was clear though: Sarah and Ekumah appear to be women on a mission driven by passion and belief in something... what, exactly, I am unable to fathom. But the drive is clear and it is very strong.

Martin Egblewogbe for kpokplomaja.com
Photo Credits: Ekua Ekumah