The King's Wages

Augustine Brempong

Description

Containing hints of political satire, The King�s Wages is a play that seeks to unmask the wicked absurdity of getting power at all costs. It tells the story of a man called Tutu who wants to be king and murders his own brother in pursuit of his plan. Tutu finally becomes king, but soon realizes that there is more to it than he bargained for. The chief among the Akan gods, Tano, becomes angry and is bent on punishing Tutu for the fratricide he committed. The ghost of Tutu�s brother comes back to haunt him and Tutu is desperate to avert this from happening again. He does not only do the unthinkable as an expedient to save his life, but also manifests his weakness by following the advice of his long-time friend Bota. As a result, he is cursed by his own daughter who commits suicide immediately afterwards. In the end, he loses everything but his life. The story may strike us as mythical, but Brempong deliberately goes beyond the limits of the natural to invest his story with more beauty and profound pathos. He uses glittering expressions and simple language, with slight touches of archaism and interspersed with Akan proverbs. The story he tells is interesting enough, but his brilliant writing style also makes it one of the outstanding works to be seen in modern African literature.

Sujets

• Drama
• African people
• African

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 16 juin 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956762514
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

brother in pursuit of his plan. Tutu finally becomes king, but soon realizes

first play.

THE KING’S WAGES

Augustine Brempong

THE KING’S WAGES Augustine Brempong

The King’s Wages

Augustine Brempong Langaa Research & Publishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com

ISBN: 9956-762-01-6 ©Augustine Brempong 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.

About the Author Augustine Brempong was born in the city of Kumasi, Ghana, on 16 June 1988. At an early age, he developed an immense interest in storytelling. This ardour for storytelling was first aroused by the folk-tales he heard his mother tell him and his sisters especially on moonlit nights, and he believes that this helped him a great deal to become a good storyteller. To his mother too, he says, must be attributed his fair knowledge in the history of the Akan people. At school, Augustine invariably kept his place at the head of class and showed signs of precocious literary proclivities. Coupled with the stories he heard from his mother, the books he read at school produced a remarkable impression on him so much that he soon decided to write his own stories, the first of which was “Why the Monkey Looks like Man.” He never showed these stories to anybody because he thought they were not good enough. He wrote a poem entitled “Mother Ghana” bemoaning the social and economic woes of his motherland while in school, for which he emerged winner in a sub-regional poetry competition. His introduction to the works of prominent African playwrights such as Efua Sutherland’sMarriage of Anansewa, Ola Rotimi’sThe Gods Are Not To Blame, and Ama Ata Aidoo’sAnowahim to make his first venture in induced playwriting.The King’s Wagesis his first play. Augustine is now a professional teacher and pursues a degree in English Language at Valley View University, Ghana.

Characters in the Play TANO, an Akan god OKOKROKO, an unnamed Akan landking of TUTU, Okokroko’s brother BOTA, Tutu’s friend OBIYAA, Tutu’s wife OHENEWAA, Tutu and Obiyaa’s daughter FIRST CHIEF

SECOND CHIEF

THIRD CHIEF

members of the King’s council, rulers of other towns and villages

FOURTH CHIEF THE GHOST A GUARD A COOKMAID A MAID A PRAISE-SINGER Townsfolk, Court Attendants, Musicians, etc.

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