I do well to watch at least one of the quarterly plays by Uncle Ebo Whyte.  Each play has been hilarious, thought-provoking and always brought a sense of community amongst the audience. So when I got tickets to see FORBIDDEN I wasn’t expecting less.  FORBIDDEN is a play of deceit, unfaithfulness, faith and blind love bound together in humor and song.

I had already heard of people going to watch FORBDIDEN about four times after their first experience. And to say my curiosity wasn’t perked would be an understatement.  I rushed from the house at 3:30pm knowing full well how prompt the curtain lifts at 4pm.  I was just in time!

Here's my review of the play: 

Human Props

Thanks to an interview I had had with Uncle Ebo Whyte I already knew there would be human props so that didn’t come as a surprise as the human props danced to the Pink Panther theme song during the first opening act. Having someone sit on you for even a minute and staying in a certain position was enough to get the props cramped and sore. I could see how their dance performance was a welcome relief to stretch out before the next act came up. What really caught me by surprise was their own choreography performance after each act. Especially the Chariots of Fire theme song  by Vangelis which saw them move in slow motion as though in a race just like the classic award-winning movie of the same title. That was incredible! Life can be like a race for some. I had to give them a standing ovation when Uncle Ebo called them to the stage for an introduction to the audience at the end of the play.

Lighting

With the performance by the human props came brilliant lighting to accompany their motions to produce a wow effect.  That was a marked upgrade to previous lighting I had seen on the stage. This was more engaging and drew the audience in to focus on the performance taking place.

Content

Every play has a story. These stories either teach lessons or show the consequences of  human actions. The script as usual was rich with great lessons to be learnt. The script as usual had humorous lines with deep heart-felt singing which wrought out the emotions of the characters. There was a lot more singing in this play, I noticed. But still one I nevertheless enjoyed. The first 5-10 minutes of the play dragged a bit and I struggled to hear the Ewe dialect of Joe, Juniors weed partner-in-crime. Perhaps it was the speakers. Nevertheless the play picked up.

Junior the male lead played by Andrew Adote; is a character who in reality is evidently present in many churches today. Men, who live wild and reckless lifestyles only to come to the Church when looking to settle down. Wolves in sheepskin. And Hilda the female lead played by Nana Sam; a convict with a past who turned to the Church in her moment of desolation and abandonment.  Who doesn’t have a past? Even with such a tainted past, she arose from the ashes to devote her life to Christ and lived in faith and beauty.

What kind of friends do we all have in our lives? Joe, the weedsmoking partner/alcohol toting friend who although knew of his friend’s lifestyle tried to save an in-love young woman from certain destruction. At least he warned Junior of his heinous plan before going ahead to attempt breaking him to Hilda. Should he have? We all have friends in our lives but we need friends who can tell it to us like it is without fear of your reaction.

Appearances are deceptive. Judging a woman by what she wears can lead to sleepless nights and instant ‘Chrife’ transformation as seen with Junior. Which is a good thing though. J How can one assume that because a woman wears a scarf and down-to-the-knees baggy dresses she would be green in bed? Well, Hilda gave the impression she was green and her outfit added to it. Poor Junior!

The Acting

Brilliant acting by Andrew Adote who played Junior was crisp. His reactions to the innocence of Hilda was hilarious and unpredictable.

One example was the scene where Joe left in a huff on Juniors arrival and Junior queried Hilda on what was happening.

She responded, ‘I don’t listen to negative comments.’ He grinned wolfishly behind her! It got the audience off their seats in stitches! 

Hats off to Nana Sam for her role as Hilda which she played to perfection. But I suspected her goody-goody shoes act was too good to be true. I told Sandra my play companion  my suspicions. She agreed with me. My favourite was when she met Amanda; Juniors side chick. Her amazement at the hand gestures as Amanda clearly showed her lack of interest in being acquainted with her. ‘ She’s like a Disney character!’ exclaimed Hilda. As i reminisced about her role, i couldn't help but imagine how her character would be laughing at Amanda's attitude because she Hilda was even 'more' and could do worse than what Junior's side chick was putting up. 

An outstanding performance with a creative approach of using human props and beautiful backdrops. 

Yes, definitely a play worth watching more than once. Great job to the team!