Christmas Is Coming Early!

December Breeze

“Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives...”

December has come; it is here, and besides the undeniable truth that many of us, after the next thirty days, would be kneeling at church pews confessing sins and making resolutions we are very likely not to keep, I believe December is coming with more promises than ever before.

The month marks the observance of a number of celebrations. Its National Fruit cake month (watch out for my fruitcake recipe, which of course would feature the traditional brandy but in no way endorses alcohol consumption), and today in particular is world AIDS day. So go on, preach and practice abstinence by all means, but also grab some condoms just in case the devil finds you. Hopefully they won’t be necessary and you would be thanking God for the grace to exercise self-control by the 31^st.

Ohio and Chicago also mark Rosa Parks day today! Because I consider myself a global citizen, and because Rosa Parks is one of the first among a few people whose stories influenced my thinking while growing up, I am going to attempt to write a number of poems themed around the eradication of segregation of any kind.

Before I however worry about the huge writing tasks ahead of me for the month of December, let me share with you what I’ve been up to in the last couple of weeks.

Missing in Action?

Not really.

In the last few weeks I’ve been working three part-time jobs: as a Dietitian, an English teacher and a baker. For those who know me well, this won’t be the first time I’ve taken on work that looks bigger than my body weight. In fact, there have been times when I combined so many things with being a student, which in itself is a full time job, and survived just fine. So, it’s been business as usual. What I really want to talk about is what I consider an experience of a lifetime.

The Real Deal

One thing that I don’t count as a job, but takes quite a percentage of my time, is my association with Roverman productions, the biggest theater group in Ghana. I joined the group in 2013 and have worked directly on three plays: “The Last Flight”, “One Million Pounds” and “Rejected”. The third play “Rejected”, which is Uncle Ebo Whyte’s latest, is among the things that have kept me occupied in the last three weeks.

The show, tickets of which are going for GHȼ 80, premiered on the 24^th of November and opened to the general public on the 26th and 27th of November. It shows again at the National theater, in Accra, on the 3^rd and 4^th of December at 4pm and 8pm each day.

It has received a significantly large number of positive reviews and has been described by a number of patrons as the best Roverman Productions play they have seen this year.

I work mainly as a dancer and also play a minor role of an inner voice of hope.

The Experience

I can’t begin to explain how working on this play has been for me. To keep it in simple words, it’s been exciting!

The story is an interesting one, and is about a woman called Comfort who is betrayed by a man she has been married to under customary law for twelve years. It is a story that when I first heard at the read through, seemed too unbelievable to really happen to anyone. But after weeks of pondering over it again and again, I realized how closely we all identified with Comfort. She trusted a human being with her all even though she should have known better. At the end of the day, she was broken to the point where she lost touch with her conscience and gave in, despite Hope’s call to hold on, to the negative voices of Pity and Anger, and decided to take her life.

The voice of Hope reminds me of the voice of God as described in the bible in 1 Kings 19:11-13 as the “still small voice”.

Many of our negative emotions roll out like earthquakes and fires, but most often it is the silent voice in us urging us to keep a cool head, despite the adversities, that should be influencing our choices. 

You can find a review of the play here. Also find  more exclusive pictures of the first weekend showing of the play below. Photo credits go to Nii Saki of Roverman Productions.

Besides the lessons I took away from the play, I am happy about my time working as cast because of the opportunity it offered me to actually exercise. Due to the desertion by my salsa partner, who I won’t name for fear that he may abandon me some more, I have been unable to engage in social dancing for a quite a while. The constant workouts at rehearsals were therefore very helpful in keeping me in shape. I also had a great time bonding with other members of cast.

The Other Deal You Don't Want to Miss!

I don’t want to enjoy the Roverman experience alone. Because I’m indisputably nice (*shy smiley face*) and am concerned about more than just the reading pleasure of my followers, I am going to make Christmas come early!

I am giving out twenty tickets for Uncle Ebo Whyte’s “Rejected” play at a whooping discount of 37.5%. Yes, you read right, if you are among the first twenty people to get in touch with me after reading this blog, you would be getting a ticket to the show this weekend at GHȼ50!!!! I am personally paying GHȼ30 of the original ticket price so twenty people can come live the Roverman Productions experience.

There are no conditions. Well, except that this special discount is redeemable only if you love me and are following my blog (which takes less than one minute to do, really) and you are not a member of Roverman productions.  You can reach me via email ruthfirsta@yahoo.ie, or send me a message via facebook (Ruthfirst Ayande), or send me a whatsapp message on 0202502729 between now and Saturday morning at 10:00am.

Get in touch with me while stocks last!