There is no doubt that uncle
Ebo and his Roverman team has changed the game as far as stage plays go. They
have set the standards and they are not going back. While everyone agrees that
Mr. James Ebo Whyte is a great writer and certainly on his way to the tittle:
the greatest playwright in the history of Ghana, not much is known about the
people who bring it all to life—the actors. My focus in this article is one of
such unsung heroines who played a pivotal character in the ever popular and
award winning play; Women on Fire.
I bumped into Alison on our
visit to the Roverman offices in Osu here in Accra. I walked past her without
noticing her—there were quite a few people around and she sat at a desk doing
some paperwork. Nothing about her told me she could act at all let alone play such
a pivotal character such as Afia (a very present and loud character who’s role appeared
to hold the whole plot together). She was arguable the single most active
ingredient in the whole Women on Fire mix. When I learnt she played the
character, I was curious to find out what kind of a person she was and what
qualified her for such a challenging role. Interesting thing came out:
Alison is actually a trained
and practicing architect from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
She is also married to an architect and have had no formal training in acting.
She had however, acted in a few campus and Church productions: nothing too
serious as she put it. She explained;
“this
is something I love to do on the side. I am passionate about acting and would
probably not have been able to choose if I had pursued a career in acting. In
the meantime I go with the flow. If I get invited and the timing is right, why
not”.
She is a natural. The mother
of two boys and a girl is not too keen on movies she said but had played roles in one
short film and a full feature film. Most of her acting has been in stage plays
like Women on Fire. She has been acting from when she was a child so the stage
is not a new place for her. I was curious to find out what kind of people she
looks up to. On the Hollywood front Denzel Washington was top of her list but
she said she loves RMD too. She also looks up to Uncle Ebo and Prophet and Mrs.
Annor as role models in another sense. Her husband also inspires her with his
encouragement borne out of his belief in her.
On the Afia character Alison
told me;
“At
the inception, there was a read through of the script. I read through while
chewing on gum. I guess that’s where we started building the character. Some
said Afia just happened. I had to think of a typical market woman, not too
educated loud type who is in everybody’s business. She was not afraid of
anyone. Some say Afia was crazy from day one”.
“I
honestly do not know why I was offered the role but I love every opportunity I
get to do what I love to do. So naturally I was excited. There is a bit of the
character in my personality too. I felt like I was in charge in a way…playing
that role. At home I am in charge as I literally run the house telling everyone
what should be where”.
The extremely energetic mother
of three has also featured in Apartment N1, What’s My Name, Unforgiven and
Puppeteers—all Roverman productions. She says she is open to all opportunities
in the future and would ultimately like to feature in a Tyler Perry production.
At home, she is a mom and a wife; naturally her goal is to raise her children
the best way possible and see them grow into model citizens. She is not going
to stop practicing architecture either and hopes to set up her own firm.
I have met some actresses in
my eventful life. I may have even dated a couple. I am yet to meet anyone with
Alison’s level of energy. I could barely keep up with her. That just left me
wondering about her husband. But I dared not ask. We have been spending some
time at the Roverman offices and we have a few stories to share with you besides
our Alison discovery. We are out there looking for ordinary people like Alison
doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways. If you know any such person, tell
us where they are and what they do, we will make sure they are recognized.
Nominate them now into the SPiD-UP® recognition program #Spidup
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