My play costs GH¢80,000 to produce – Uncle Ebo Whyte

Renowned playwright, Uncle Ebo Whyte has revealed that it costs a staggering GH¢80,000 to produce just one of his numerous world-class plays.

Over the years, the Roverman CEO has dazzled Ghanaians with spectacular productions such as Sins of the Fathers, Life is Some Way, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, The Day Dad Came, and Unhappy Wives, Confused Husbands, all household names.

Speaking in an interview with Myjoyonline.com, Uncle Ebo disclosed that for him to successfully produce a play, he needs between GH¢75,000 to GH¢80,000.

Per the figures, according to him, it will virtually be difficult to sustain his productions had it not been the support of sponsors: “I won’t be able to sustain it” without the sponsors “I couldn’t keep this thing going.”

“There is no place where the arts can survive, especially the arts that teach good morals can survive without support. In the developed countries, government give grants for these things to be done,” he lamented.

According to him, these countries give enough grants for such productions to go on without advertising unlike Ghana where the arts have been left to producers who don’t have enough, or no funds, to execute them.

The Food for Thought presenter on Joy 99.7FM also revealed that “The ticket sales by themselves will not be dependable so you have to combine that with the sponsorship” meaning the shows themselves do not really hold enough monetary benefits.

One may wonder why it will cost that much for a single play. Uncle Ebo said for example, his last play, Trials of the Ghanaian, apart from the venue, stage, costume, he used a cast of 20 and a crew of 100.

He also “employed three levels of security to ensure that nobody’s car is broken into … because this are people coming from their homes, they are my guests and I don’t want anything to put them off.” All these people, including cleaners, have to be paid.

All though it is expensive to produce a play, he is excited that his outfit has not failed to raise sponsorship for the plays.

Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu