Celebrated playwright and CEO of Roverman Productions, Uncle Ebo Whyte, has outlined his vision for Ghana’s theatre industry.
He stressed the need for a dedicated performance space and an expanded schedule of shows to rival international standards.
According to him, Ghana risks losing millions of dollars in tourism revenue because visitors are not offered curated cultural experiences as is done in other countries.
“My biggest dream is to have a theatre of our own, and also to be able to move our productions from 12 shows a quarter to 8 shows a week. My counterpart in South Africa is not doing shows only on weekends; he is doing 8 shows a week. That is the direction to move towards. A theatre of our own, 8 shows a week, so you don’t even need to hear an advert, just get into your car and come, and you will have a good evening,” he said.
Uncle Ebo Whyte pointed out that in major cultural hubs like Broadway in New York or London’s West End, theatre has become an integral part of social life.
“In other places, they know that Broadway will always have a show worth your while, the West End will always have a show worth your while. You go out for dinner with your family and end the evening there. Or you catch an earlier show, then pass through a restaurant for a meal and go home. All that is part of their socialisation. Ghana must get there too,” he explained.
He stressed that this vision also has a strong tourism benefit.
“Every flight coming into Ghana is about 30% Ghanaians and 70% foreigners, expatriates, investors, businessmen, holidaymakers. But what do we do with them? We book them into a hotel and leave them there. It doesn’t happen in any country that takes itself seriously. In South Africa, for instance, every evening there is a show, an event, a trip, something curated to make sure visitors have high memories and want to come back,” he said.
To illustrate his point, Uncle Ebo Whyte recalled a friend’s experience taking foreign visitors to Boti Falls.
“They drove all the way, looked at the falls for 20 or 30 minutes, and that was it. One of the foreigners asked, ‘Are you serious?’ He said, if we had this in the UK, there’s no way you would spend less than three hours there. There would be shops, activities for children, merchandise, food. Before you realise, you’ve spent three hours minimum and money too,” he recounted.
He argued that Ghana must adopt similar strategies to maximise its cultural and natural assets.
“With my theatre, we will make that possible. So that every hotel in Accra can have a schedule to recommend. If you have guests and want them to spend a good evening, you can say, ‘There’s a place, we can call and do a booking for you.’ That’s how we grow the industry and the economy,” Uncle Ebo Whyte emphasised.