Queen Pokou

Writer: Dean Atta

Cast: Karlina Grace, Chris Rochester & Stephanie Yamson

Last month I went to watch a play Queen Pokou. I was first interested in the play because it was about a Ghana, my roots. I had never heard of the story before and was interested.

Queen Alba Pokou, was about a strong woman who ruled the Akan people in western Africa Ghana. A man within the tribe believed the people should not be led by a woman, so he tried to over rule and take her place. The queen and her followers had to flee in order to protect their lives and their kingdom. Legend has it when they reached the river they could not cross. One of the village guru's spoke with the ancestors, the ancestors told her through the guru in order to survive she needed to sacrifice what was most precious to her.... her only son. When she placed her son in the river, the river parted ways for  the people to pass. Meanwhile all the energy the guru used to speak with the ancestors killed him. The tribe lived on in a prosperous kingdom, the tribe is still present today in Ghana.

The play was not how I expected it to be, there were only three characters, the set was weak, the audience too close. There was more singing than acting. With such a strong story the play could have been so much better there could have been more characters to create an atmosphere of a community on the run, the enemies should have been portrayed. I was disappointed to say the least. The reviews about the writer and the actors had been of high recommendation, I expected more and got less.

Pascal Mpeck paintings