‘Song of the Pharaoh’ thrills Kumasi audience

The Song of the Pharaoh  musical dance drama last week played out to  a near capacity audience at the Social Science Auditorium (CCB), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi.    

With artistes drawn from the National Drama  and Dance Companies, School of Performing Arts of the University of Ghana, Noyam African Dance Institute and the National Symphony Orchestra, the hall was turned into a mini festival characterised by amazing coordination and artistic delivery.

Written and directed by Dr Mohammed Ben Abdallah, the production is a foremost musical drama that reveals a story of love, incest and betrayal. It equally tackles the politico-religious transformation of ancient Egypt.

The director commendably combines traditional Ghanaian music and dance forms with a varied range of creative styles from Egypt and other parts of Africa thereby creating a curious, new synthesis of cultures.

With fantastically designed costumes and a simple but highly expressive set, artistes from the National Drama Company enacted the story of Pharaoh Akhnaten with calculated grace  as they reproduced scenes from the royal court of ancient Egypt.

Interspersed with music from the National Symphony Orchestra and dance from the National Dance Company  and Noyam,  the delicate story of the rise and fall of Pharaoh Akhnaten,  said to have ruled Egypt during a period of economic and artistic growth, gradually unfolded.  

The production,  which was organised by the National Theatre of Ghana in collaboration with resident groups of the theatre, Noyam and the School of Performing Arts, was sponsored by the United States Embassy in Accra.