TROTRO

Public Transport, affectionately or derivatively called ‘Trotro”, is a huge part of every Ghanaian’s life, and this play titled “Trotro” did a fantastic job in bringing this to the stage. The play established powerful, subliminal messages of the power in unity of all Ghanaians no matter which section of the social stratum they belonged to. 

Laughter was the order of each night this play was performed, the comedic characters were not laughed at simply because of their comedic acting but also the niggling truth that everyone recognized the various characters in reality: the frustrated trotro owner who is not reaping his benefits the lazy trotro driver who over speeds, drinks before driving, and cheats on his wife, the very lazy mate who cannot wait to get his driver’s “Lasince” (Licence) so he too could become the driver, the orange seller (as well as a female Casanova to the ‘mates’ or ‘aplank3s’ around), the stutterer whose every word requires something of a Harlem Shake, the ‘too known’ teenage girl with popping gum, a short skirt and stunners, the know-it-all University graduate who cannot help but show off his knowledge of laws and intellect to a very uninterested audience, a nurse, a fitter who constantly corrects his fellow passengers that he is a an “automobile mechanic”, the fish seller who stinks up the whole trotro, the corrupt policeman who stops cars only to collect ‘tsoboe’ and finally, the Trotro driver’s girlfriend who has the special front seat.

The typical issues are brought to the fore and that made the audience even more rowdy with helpless laughter: very worn out and plastered money no one wanted, people wanting to cross the queue, money that was ‘too big’ to find change for so raised a verbal argument between the mate and the passenger, front seat saved for the driver’s girlfriend, mischievous men pushing their waists very close to the well-endowed behind of the woman in front of them in queues. People fell off their chairs in laughter as they recognized each of these issues in their daily lives. Direct translations from Twi to English, such as, “Remove your eye from my eye” and supposedly ‘affectionate’ pet names like “Adwoa Commando”, and a funny gimmicks like “Haala il a” were just the delicious icing on top of cake.

Despite all the hilarity, one could not mistake the strong undertones of important advice to us, as Ghanaians. Occupations like the nurse, and the University graduate pushed their noses up at the other ‘lower’ occupations such as the fish seller and the fitter, including the trotro driver and his mate. However, there was the constant admonishment such as “Why? Don’t you people eat fish?” from the fish seller, and. “The way you also take care of sick people, I also take care of sick cars,” says the mechanic. These messages definitely implied that every occupation was important to the growth of our economy. There was a heavily symbolic scene when the trotro’s weak engine finally refused to start and required the joint efforts of the people in the trotro to push it. One man could not push the trotro alone. All the people, from different walks of life, had to stop bickering at each other and unite in their efforts to push the trotro forward in order for it to start and take them to their various destinations. It is needless to say, the weak, sputtering, problematic trotro was heavily representative of our economy. To start the engine, keep it running, and provide the first spark of growth and development of our beloved nation, Ghana, requires a suspension of division and a unity of efforts. What better, creative way to say this tired, ignored advice than through sharing it in a trotro experience?

This play written by Sackey Sowah, and directed by Daphnies Selasi, was staged at the Efua Sutherland Drama Studio at the University of Ghana was definitely a must-see.

Kudos to all behind this production and may they take it further!