Playwright Latif Abubakar will dramatize President John Dramani Mahama’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) experience in his forthcoming stage play dubbed “The Darkest Chapter.”
Globe Productions, in partnership with the National Theatre, UNESCO, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will produce the play.
The play is inspired by President Mahama’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, delivered just before the Assembly voted on a resolution that recognised the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans as one of the worst crimes against humanity.
READ ALSO:
Ghana led the push for the resolution, with support from the African Union, CARICOM, and allies worldwide. That historic moment has now become the basis for Latif Abubakar’s stage play.
“The Darkest Chapter” will unfold across three timelines and settings: the shores and dungeons of Cape Coast and Elmina, a modern United Nations General Assembly Hall, and a spirit world accessed through drumming and dance backed by West African and Caribbean traditions with live orchestral strings and a full gospel‑highlife choir.
The plot will center on “The Witness,” an immortal narrator who has lived through four centuries. He appears as a child of the Gold Coast, a captive on the Middle Passage, a worker on a Caribbean plantation, a marcher with freedom fighters, and finally as history’s voice in the UN General Assembly during President Mahama’s speech. Carrying the weight of stolen names, hard‑won freedoms, and unfinished promises, The Witness stands in the chamber as history itself before the vote is called.
Speaking about the production, Latif Abubakar explained that the play was designed as an immersive story with the ambition to premiere both in Ghana and abroad.
“It is, by every measure, a sensory masterpiece, immersive, cinematic, and unapologetically global in its ambition. It is built to premiere with equal power in Accra, Kingston, Bridgetown, Port of Spain, New York, or London,” Mr. Abubakar said.
He urged audiences to pay close attention to the story and dialogue, noting that when the resolution is finally spoken on stage, it should not feel like a headline but like an answered prayer.
“We are not asking audiences to relive four hundred years of pain. We are asking them to walk through it. This is not a re‑enactment. It is an inheritance,” he added.
Scheduled for October 2026 at the National Theatre, and running for three unmissable nights and matinees, the production will show on Friday, October 2, at 7:00 pm, and on Saturday, October 3rd and Sunday, October 4, at 4:00pm & 8:00pm each day.
Tickets are on sale at GHC200 and can be purchased by dialling *447*1092#.
