Precious wins Drama Syndrome Show contest in Tamale

By Samuel SAM

An environmental entrepreneur (Green Entrepreneur), Precious Dzidzornu Kofitse Dogbatse, with the stage name ‘Precious’, emerged the winner of the second edition of the Drama Syndrome Show, a stage play contest held in Tamale in portrayal of cultural heritage, promotion of theatre arts and development of talents in the theatre arts industry, toward building Ghana through arts and culture.

Ayisha Mohammed, a social worker and entrepreneur with stage name ‘Adjoa’, won the second position out of six contestants that participated. They took home cash prizes, plaques and certificates.

The Drama Syndrome Show is a concept aimed at providing education and entertainment to revive stage plays within the Northern Region of Ghana as well as magnifying the relevance of drama in day to day activities by giving actors opportunities to be showcased.

It is also an initiative for passionate actors who have interest in performing on stage to contest by showcasing their skills in acting with the aid of total theatre; dance, drama and music.

DM-SALT Drama Mansion (Drama Mansion), a theatre arts and screen production enterprise in Tamale, in collaboration with the Centre for National Culture (CNC) Northern Region and ZAA TV, organised the second edition of the Drama Syndrome Show in the form of a contest in Tamale to showcase and improve the potentials of all who have the flair for acting, regardless of age. The show was also supported by King Faisal Production and Mavmax Restaurant.

Over the years, drama portrays the politics of possibilities and it has been used to portray cultural heritage, criticise, suggest ideas and propose solutions to problems – using humans to suggest how its proposals could be implemented.

The Northern Regional Director of CNC, Abubakari Iddrisu Saeed, commended Drama Mansion for the numerous initiatives in using drama to promote cultural heritage and tourism of the region.

He noted that the Drama Syndrome Show is a force to be reckoned with in the Performing Arts Industry, and the centre was happy to collaborate with the provision of relevant information needed on the arts and culture toward promoting culture as well as helping in developing the potentials of individuals interested in Performing Arts.

Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, the Northern Regional Director of National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), commended the organisers of the event for showcasing the prospects of entrepreneurs, actors and also using drama as an advocacy in educating the society. According to him, playwrights play critical roles in communicating situations with actors who interact to fulfil the playwright’s purpose.

Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed, Executive Director of Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH) – a women-led and rights-based organisation , noted that the use of drama to advocate for behavioural change is in the right direction; hence, the need for individuals and groups who wish to impact society to take advantage of the platform to showcase their talents.

She applauded the Director of Drama Mansion, saying: “It takes bold steps for a person to contribute to the development of the society in curbing social vices.” She appealed for support to sustain the event for the development of the region and the country as a whole.

The Director of Drama Mansion, Madam Antoinette Dzorgbenyuie Kotoko-Letsa, known as ‘Daavi Goodluck’, said the aim of the event was to enhance theatre productions in the region for contestants to nurture acting talents by putting them in real-life situations in order to broaden their minds to fit into realities of society.

“The implementation of suggested proposals develop society; yet through drama, nobody feels ‘exposed’ while the messages become a collective effort of the playwright, the depicted, the actors, the criticised. And in fact, the whole community not only feels part of the issues raised by the drama, but feels it owns the issues and, therefore, owns restitution,” she said.

She added that the contest serves as a platform to make contestants more creative, better critical thinkers and also upgrade their writing, reading and problem-solving skills. “The Drama Syndrome Show Season two was initiated to build among actors healthy competitions, inculcate in them the art of public speaking and oral communication as well as fine-tune their skills of pitching their ideas to people, where needed, and also create opportunities for them to be recognised nationwide,” she explained.

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