• The Son of Umbele: A Play in Three Acts

    “…the contents of the play revealed a brilliant mind at work in an attempt to deal with some basic ambiguities of human existence,” wrote Julius S. Scott Jnr. of Spelma College-Atlanta, when he saw an American production of The Son of Umbele.

    Indeed, this Ghana National Book Award winner has endeared itself to theatre enthusiasts as well as scholars since its premier at the Ghana Drama studio in 1972.

    Bill Marshall’s sensitivity to realities of the human existence and the conflicts of the mind is eloquently manifest in his writing, be it a novel, a TV Drama or a Stage play.

    The author appeared on the Ghanaian Arts scene in 1966 when he joined GBC-TV and helped to establish the Drama Department of the Television Station. He worked with the Corporation for several years, writing, production and directing plays for Television, He subsequently left for the private sector, working for Lintas Ghana Limited and in his own company, Studio Africain. In 1984, he was appointed the Director of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) in Ghana.

    Other published works by the author are Novels: Bukom, Brother Man, The Oyster Man, Uncle Blanko’s Chair; Plays: Shadows of an Eagle, Stranger to Innocence Asana, The Crows and Other plays.

  • Stranger to Innocence – A Play

    Stranger to Innocence is an intriguing short play, which treats the daily motions, frustrations, joys and aspirations of an African priestly family. This is the house where a stranger, Tawa, who has been fleeing from his own sins, seeks to find refuge. In the end, lessons of remorse and forgiveness are yet to be fully understood especially by young minds like Alaba, daughter of the priest.

    The play exhibits the author’s artistic simplicity in the use of dramatic language, which has endeared this play to wide theatre audiences.

    It is not surprising that it is popular among many drama groups and schools in the country.

    Stranger to Innocence is one of Bill Marshall’s early plays, from which a lot of inspiration is drawn.

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