At the end of his last play,  The Devil In The Mirror, playwright, Uncle Ebo Whyte announced his intentions to put together a showing of the plays he had staged throughout the year for the enjoyment of patrons and true to his word he has done just that.

Spread over the whole month of December; from  December 5 to December 28, the showing is aptly titled Festival of Plays and audiences should be prepared to experience some exciting as well as thought provoking moments as has been the case at Ebo Whyte’s plays.

The plays to be put up comprise What Dad Left Behind on December 5, Mr. President Your Move on December 6, The Devil In the Mirror on December 27 and Unhappy Wives, Confused Husbands on December 28.

The plays have very realistic themes and raise issues that confront people in their daily lives in such a manner that everyone can relate to.

 In What Dad Left Behind, Sulley, based in the US, and raised by his single mother grows up with the deception that his father was dead, that is until his father actually dies at a time when Sulley has become an adult.

On the insistence of his mother, Sulley returns to Ghana for the funeral of the father he never knew only to find out that the man has named him as the sole beneficiary of his multi-billion dollar business empire much to the anguish, despair and vehement protest of the surviving wives and children.

Now Sulley’s life is at stake as his two step-mothers and four step-siblings unite for the first time to find ways of eliminating him so they can claim the estate of their deceased husband and father.

Mr President, Your Move is based on the first 100 days of a new political administration; the new president of Ghana faces a problem. His predecessor who has a history of overthrowing governments is threatening to remove him from power and the President’s security advisors give him three options, one of which is to order the elimination of the former president.

None of the options is palatable to the President and yet he must make a choice now or risk having his government overthrown.

What does he do?
The play takes a look at what has happened in Ghana and shows what could have been. It is educative and informative and will change people’s perceptions of politics and love.

The Devil In The Mirror puts the spotlight on our tendency to blame the devil for everything when most times we are the devil. In the play, Mr Aikins’ dawn is shattered with news of his factory on fire. His overly-spiritual wife and similarly over-zealous sister, blame the devil for the fire.

In another breath, they characterise the fire as God’s punishment for Mr Aikins for not joining them in their fanaticism.

When Mr Aikins rushes to the factory to see things for himself, his wife causes a calamity by allowing a self-styled man of God to come in and ransack their property. In his attempt to stop the fake man of God from stealing his wife’s jewellery, Mr Aikins sets off further conflict with his wife.

Meanwhile, his attempts to get justice for the fire sparks off problems with his sister whose husband is the cause of the fire and in all this, he has to help his 13-year old daughter who is in the throes of a crush on a boy in her class.

Perhaps the most popular of all the featured dramas is Unhappy Wives, Confused Husbands because it addresses the age-long problem of the differences between men and women.

It is the 40th wedding anniversary of the Afriyies and their children, Esi, Yaa and Kofi and the spouses of the last two, Sammy and Alice arrive to celebrate the day with them.

Unfortunately, the children come with serious issues in their respective marriages. Yaa is threatening to leave her husband and Kofi is totally confused about what his wife expects of him.

Meanwhile, Esi, who is still single is achieving her career goals but her mother cannot accept the fact that she is unmarried and believes it is her duty to force her daughter to get married.

One of the novel things about this festival is that a single ticket at  a price of GH¢ 100 will entitle a patron to watch all the four plays, attend a New Year’s dinner and take part in a raffle draw for which prizes include an all expenses paid weekend stay at any Coconut Grove Hotel in the country.

Another new idea is the chance that has been given to corporate bodies to buy tickets for their staff and loyal customers as a thank-you and Christmas presents.

For Ebo Whyte’s Roverman Productions, the idea to involve the corporate entities is to help ease stress for both staff and customers, enhance morale and co-operation at the workplace, increase productivity and help staff overcome some of their own problems in their private lives.