The 'Lost Fishermen' Is Back

THE "Lost Fishermen", a play by Saka Acquaye that last performed 19 years returned to the stage at a packed National Theatre last week.

The play, a musical, teaches society not to take for granted the myths surrounding certain natural phenomena deemed to be sacred.

Kotey is one of the fishermen from Accra but feels he knows everything and will dare what man has been forbidden not to do.

As is the custom with fishermen in Accra, they are not allowed to go fishing on Tuesdays and this is known even by the youngest person in the city of Accra.

Kotey however succeeds in luring his father and the rest of the fishermen to go fishing on a Tuesday and for their recalcitrance, they paid dearly for it. Their boat got missing in the deep seas until it is washed ashore at an island.

The drama unfolds at this island where they meet the women in the island whose beauty and charm made the fishermen, except their father who refused all decided to find their way back home but rather to get married and settle there in the island.

Here too Kotey mishaves and tries to bully Sackey because the woman he loves and want to marry is in love with the latter.

He kills both Sackey and the woman so the gods forbid him to go back to Accra with his father and the other members in the fishing team.

Because his father obeys the voice of the god and disallows him to follow them, he threatens to kill his father and this leads to his father disowning him.

Although the play ends tragically with the death of Kotey, together with Sackey and the woman they were both in love which, it portrays in comic sense the typical Ga fisher folk.

There is naked use of insults and foul language and spiced with rich traditional Ga songs and good traditional dances.

The play was staged by a cost of more than 30.

When later asked what he hoped to achieve with such piece, Mr. Saka Acquaye told Times Weekend it is meant to correct society.

He likened Kotey to the loud mouth in society, especially some priests and Christians who take for granted tradition and cultures regarding some sacred places.

"Some people call themselves Christians and so will not obey anything said concerning taboos in our societies," he said.

He said some politicians too are as loud mouthed as Kotey himself who promise everything on earth but have nothing to offer society.