At the beginning of every year, there are a number of occasions that I look forward to… my birthday, my friends' birthday, valentine’s day, just name them and I will confirm but if you don’t add Roverman Productions' quarterly play to that list, then you don’t really know me.

As part of a tradition I have developed over the years, after the Festival of Plays in December, I automatically start looking forward to the new year and what Ebo Whyte has up his sleeves.

It may be true that with so much happening around us, he might never run out of ideas for his plays, however, weaving those happenings into a two-hour play cannot be easy, especially if you have to remember to add humor, still educate people, send a coded message across and stay relevant.

I honestly don’t envy Ebo Whyte. At all…

…and as I always do, I was at the National Theatre on Sunday, July 9 to watch the second play for the year.

I missed the first quarterly show, “Just The Tip” due to personal reasons but after reading some reviews online, missing this one was not an option.

Again, every stage production fan in Ghana knows Ebo Whyte does not joke with his time, it is the reason why his shows are the only events I am seated 20mins before time.

I have missed a flight before… I have gone running and sweating through check in at the airport on two different occasions, but to be late for a show, never. I will rather postpone, and since watching the show is a must, hence the decision to always leave the house two-hours before time.

So let’s get into the latest play, “I Like What You Like.”

Before I do, it is important to note that I had a conversation with the renowned playwright some minutes before the show.

Yes, that’s one of the advantages of coming early. You also get to interact with the Roverman guys.. fun, polite, down to earth people who are ever ready to assist.

P.S: if you are reading this and don’t know any of them.. just look for Ken Nii Saki, Adrian or Emeka when you get to the gate, these guys will be happy to help.

Before the details of my conversation with Ebo Whyte, here is my review on the play.

I Like What You Like

This was a 10 member cast with both new and old faces.

It tells the story of Kwasi Trump, an upright politician who resigned from his position as Minister of State due to the corrupt nature of the government in power.

Yep, you read that right… and no, that doesn’t happen in Ghana here so we can’t relate but we could wish.

Mr. Trump, played by Ebenezer Kwabena Yeboah or KY was in a bad state financially since he resigned 10 years ago. During that period, his wife, Iris, played by Rosemary Arhin had been taking care of the family.

His father-in-law, also a politician and played by Providence Dela Klugan was not his biggest fan and his best friend and lawyer (played by Roland Amoah Awuah) jokes too much.

When a prank by his friend almost sent his wife packing, we knew it was because of the financial stress on her.

However, the timely death of his favorite aunty changed his fortunes. With his instant rise to fame and riches came new popularity, a now loving wife, a supportive father-in-law and awesome partnership deals with the government.

I am trying not to reveal so much since the show will be repeated in December as part of the Festival of Plays.

But I must say, I did not expect the outcome of events.

For the first time, Ebo Whyte’s play did not portray consequences for the actions of those who betrayed, displayed greed and selfishness.

I mean, with all that the wife did, she got away with everything and still got to enjoy his money?

Even the father-in-law? How?

Granted, there were lessons on honesty, integrity and uprightness…. But if the good is rewarded, shouldn't the bad be punished?

Unless, Ebo Whyte was trying to sell the point that women are generally loving when there is money, so men should not expect too much... Other than that, I don't get it.

You might not get my argument till you watch the play, so add it to your Christmas list… and let’s argue after.

General ratings

I will give that play, a solid 8 out of 10… and that for me is because the wife and her family members got away with everything they did.

Maybe, if I was more forgiving like KY, I would have rated it a 9….

Once again, the stage design was mind blowing. I don’t know what went into Roverman’s decision to invest more into their stage design but they have been killing it of late.

The stage designer needs a raise.. an increase in salary, an acknowledgment on stage…. Something.

That set was beautiful and you can’t tell me nothing.

I will give it a solid 10/10 or 100 over 10 or 1000 over 10. Don’t judge, it got me excited.

Immediately the curtains went up and I saw it I smiled.. almost took out my phone to take a picture. Just the stage, with no one on it.

Good work Roverman. Your interior designer, I mean set designer is awesome.

Now to the cast.

Let’s start with the main characters.. Kwasi Trump and his wife, Iris.

I have watched a couple of plays with KY in it and I must say even when he is not the main character, he stands out.

The guy is good.

I don’t know if he is the new replacement for Andrew Adote who used to be in most of Ebo Whyte’s play and was his star actor.

But KY has his own aura and he does quite well. He gets a 10 from me for performance. He actually made me cry.

Next is Iris… her part and storyline was more complex and difficult .. maybe I have seen her in a play before, maybe I haven’t… but I didn’t recognize her.

Also, I did not sense any chemistry between she and KY on stage, however, her bond with her father-figure was impressive. I am definitely sure they are friends off set. I will give her an 8.

Next is the owner of a voice Uncle Ebo seems to be taking time to project, Tina Twumasi.

I totally get why he will want to give her various opportunities to showcase her talent. She has the voice of an angel and we all know it. Who will ever get tired of her singing, no one. I will give her a 10.

The father-in-law, Togbe gets a 10 from me. I loved him. Reminds me of my all time favorite Roverman character, Dr. Sasu. He was fun to watch. I would like to see him again.

Now both the lawyer and brother-in-law (played by Ken Ollennu) are a 7. There was nothing extra from them and their characters could have been played by anyone.... In fact, I had a few people in mind.

The pastor (played by Abremponghene Gyima Fenning) gets a 7 and our female banker (played by Miznana Ansomah) walks away with a solid 9.

Finally, the President's right hand man gets a 7 (which is very generous of me) and the IT guy (played by Kimball Acheampong) gets a 7 too.

As for we the audience, we get a 10. You can protest but I know we deserve it.

My talk with Ebo Whyte

For some time now, I have heard people complain about how most of Ebo Whyte's plays don’t tally with the titles or the storyline.

From 'Just The Tip' to “I Want Your Wife” to 'Husband Material', the arguments have been the same.

That the titles were just to get people to patronise the show. Storyline did not connect with the title and message was not clear.

With these concerns, who better to address them than the playwright.

Touching on this, Uncle Ebo said, “most often the title is to capture the whole story, or just draw attention to a particular point that we want to put across”.

According to him, while the audience may want to go with the literal meaning for some of his titles, most have deeper message.

“For 'Just The Tip', people went with a sexual meaning but that was not the point. The story was about a family, a relationship that couldn’t be and individuals. What we sought to let people understand is that in this life, most people see what is on the surface. What they are shown is what they see but there is more to it than that. Whatever you know about someone is just the tip. There is more to that person.”

Makes sense, right? I thought so too.

Explaining the rational behind 'Husband Material; 7 yards', the motivational speaker said, “effort was put into showing you the man’s weaknesses and to get people to understand that behind every successful man, there is a strong woman keeping the home together. It was why the title said ‘husband material, 7 yards’… the husband was only 7 yards which is small."

With this in-depth explanation from him, I watched the latest play with an open mind.
I wanted to understand if indeed, Ebo Whyte likes what I like, or if I could relate to the characters on stage.

My conclusion at the end of the play was that, we all like good things. We all want the finest things in life and to be associated with the rich and powerful.

Each one of us would like to be rich or come from a family with money or status in society. Liking good things is not a crime. Wanting the best is not a bad thing… we just have to try and walk that path in an honest way.

So yes, I can proudly say, I like what Ebo Whyte likes or rather, he likes what I like.

Catch a repeat of the show next weekend at the National Theatre. Tickets are going for a cool GHS150 and there are various time options to choose from.

Who knows, you might like what we all like, which is a good play/story line.