Entertainment of Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Source: b&ft

KSM Makes History As Kwame Nkrumah

Kwaku Sintim Misa (KSM) made history by single-handedly re-igniting interest in the theatre in Ghana in 1997 after a long slumber. He made history again by repackaging comedy and making it an attractive and respectable profession in Ghana.

He made history yet again when he introduced Thank God it’s Friday and turned it into a world-class national platform for celebrating Ghanaian ingenuity. In its seventh year, it is arguably the most watched prime-time programme on Ghana Television today.

On the 5th and 6th of March, history will be made one more time as KSM mounts the stage and plays the role of Kwame Nkrumah in a fascinating one-man-play. He describes this as his definitive performance and is enthused by the challenge of playing such a great man.

B&FT Lifestyle had a chat with KSM and asked him what has been the greatest challenge with the decision to stage a play and act as Kwame Nkrumah. “You know, there is enough material to write an eight hour play on Kwame Nkrumah. The greatest challenge is deciding what aspect of his multifaceted life to hone in on for a 75- minute show. That was tough.”

On how he handled that challenge and which aspect of Nkrumah’s life he decided to focus on. This is what he had to say: “I have talked to several people to find out what they expect from the show. The results were quite fascinating.”

“Everyone seems excited about the idea, but no one knows what to expect. This is great. It gives me the platform to be loyal to historical facts, but more importantly the liberty to invoke my creative license to recreate Kwame Nkrumah in 2011.

“I portray him as a light-hearted man with a superb sense of humour and depict him with a fine balance between Kwame, the firebrand revolutionary pan-African leader, and Kwame the Show boy who is now intrigued with the facebook generation. One thing is certain, his passion and desire for African Unity is still unwavering.”

The show takes place on the 5th and 6th of March at the ultra-modern auditorium of the prestigious College of Physicians and Surgeons, located at the Ridge circle. Both shows start at 8pm prompt.