‘I Told You So’ adaptation thrills audience
Theatre director and academic, Abdul Karim Hakib’s stage adaption of the classic Ghanaian film ‘I Told You So’, recently brought a pleasant sense of nostalgia to elderly members of the audience during a splendid performance at the Accra International Conference Centre.
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With the cast largely comprising students of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana at Legon, the play offered useful glimpses into life in Ghana in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
It also demonstrated that aspects life in the past is clearly present with us.
A comedy that shows how a young woman was compelled to accept a suitor because of his supposed riches and the consequences that befell the union, the play reveals the disgrace and ridicule the family encountered owing to their inability to effectively verify the background of a so-called wealthy man.
Director Hakib, who uses humour to a fine effect, also employs singing, dancing, practical proverbs and adages in vogue in the 1970s as well as highlife, traditional and folk music and free-style Ghanaian dances of the era.
“It is a story of greed and a false belief that riches is the solution to all problems on earth. I watched the original film over 35 years ago and the play has brought back memories of the 1970s. We need more of these historical productions”, said Yaw Adu, a writer in Accra.
In the play, the director adapts an easy conversational tone laced with intense humour while employing a choir to unveil part of the story, thereby bringing on stage an atmosphere of a past era in a relaxed and entertaining manner.
Undeniably, this stage adaption of ‘I Told You So’ has turned attention to themes in contemporary Ghanaian cinema with enthusiasts pointing to the style of this film as one of the directions our industry should pursue.
The original ‘I Told You So’ film was directed by Egbert Adjeso for the then Ghana Film Industry Corporation (GFIC) in 1970.
