The mere mention of the word sex within a crowd or a public place in our part of the world attracts attention more than the mention of emergency, money, bomb and even death. It is that dirty, ungodly or impious word which no one wants to mention or speak about it. But wait, let’s just be frank to ourselves, have you not on a number of occasions seen highly esteemed people or individuals of reverence in the society and wondered how they made their babies?, asking yourself questions like do they ever have sex at all, considering the unholy nature of it against the backdrop of reverence and righteousness. Ask me and I say the three letter word sex has its own halo just like the myth surrounding “madam moak” in every Ghanaian senior high school dormitory.
The undeniable truth is, almost anybody you have heard of or know in your life is there because once upon a time two individuals belonging to a different gender decided to have sex. Unless of course under some extraordinary scientific circumstances. Either way, the basic underlying factor is that a man’s sperm should fertilize the female ovum before terms like gametes, chromosomes and zygote come into play.
Sex is not only for reproductive purposes, there is the pleasure angle to it. Personally I strongly believe that the art of love making is pleasurable because looking at the pains women go through at child birth, the pleasurable nature of sex will be the only reason to make them come back for more after child delivery thus a skillful means employed by God to push his agenda of multiplicity and filling the earth. The pleasurable instincts or desire for sex is that force which turns so called “Big Men” into little children to be begging for it when the need arises and vice versa. I bet you, you have no idea of things people say or do in times of intimacy. The extent to which people will go just to taste that “forbidden fruit” can be mind blowing at times. Great men like Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Michael Tyson and the likes have all had to deal with issues of sexual misconduct at one point of their lives, not to talk of leaders in the scripture such as Solomon, Sampson, David, and etcetera. This proves that, that precious thing between the thighs of a woman wields an immeasurable power that is inexplicable and almost impeccable.
It is this power that female characters in the ancient Greek playwright, Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata seek to tactfully explore for the betterment of the Greek society. The story written in 411 BC, shines the light on women who denied their warring husbands sex and promised to give in only if they put an end to the Peloponnesian War. The play however has been adapted by two African writers namely Tony Harrison and James Simmons, into a Nigerian setting with some traditional African dramatic elements incorporated in there. They captioned theirs Aikin Mata, I tell you the accent alone will fill your lungs with oxygen of laughter and humor.
The young and upcoming theatre mogul Ebow Barton Odro, has skillfully re-woven this theatrical masterpiece by Tony Harrison and James Simmons into a whole new creative dramatic basket called SEX STRIKE. In this play, the beautiful ladies from the School of Performing Arts in University of Ghana ladies are denying their husbands who are at war sex. The rationale behind this strike is for the men to put their thinking caps on and come to the consensus of a ceasefire. As to whether the men will heed to their demands or not it is only time that can tell.
Staging sex strike at this time in Ghana is a peace campaign effort using the women as front liners to lure men into peace building and national development. No peace No Sex. Celebrities like Nana Ama Mcbrown, Akosua Vee (Ghana’s Most Beautiful 2016), the Beautiful Dzifa Gray and Too Sweet Annan have endorsed this play.
DATE: 17th, 18th, and 19th Novemeber, 2016
VENUE: Amphitheatre behind Commonwealth Hall University of Ghana.
TIME: 7:00PM Prompt
CREATED BY:
FREDERICK ACQUAH
@am_phils on twitter
