When I listened to Joewackle J. Kusi’s audio drama, Goodbye Gold Coast, for the second time, I started to interrogate Nigeria’s history and political climate. Did this interrogation start when my secondary school government teacher passionately taught? Did that conscious conversation start when I chanced upon Chimanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus? Or was it earlier, when in primary school, I had to perform some patriotic-incline activities? Joewackle’s audio drama is set a few hours before Ghana’s independence. It features the story and voices of Rose, a school teacher, and her European lover as they try to understand what independence will mean to them and their relationship. Unable to find a coherent answer and timeline, I asked Joewackle, during our conversation, about his first engagement with Ghana’s history. He took a moment before responding. When he does, the multidisciplinary storyteller informs me that this probing started during one of the Independence Day Parade ceremonies. An earthquake had happened, and since his elder sister was one of the students selected to represent her school for the march, he was concerned for her safety. That experience prompted 7-year-old Joewackle to ask what Independence Day meant.
Ghanaians, while in primary and secondary schools, look forward to wearing extremely clean school uniforms and shiny shoes every 6th of March – Ghana’s Independence Day Celebration. As I and Joewackle will agree, as kids, the gravity of these patriotic acts don’t register on children’s consciousness. But, as they get older, with closeup experience with Ghana’s history and economy, conscious and probing questions are asked. Thus, for the director of this historic audio drama, it wasn’t different. With personal experiences and encounters with Ghana’s politics and economy, that level of patriotism has changed. “As a kid, I didn’t care about what independence meant or what patriotism meant. But, now, as an adult, I started questioning why we need to keep celebrating the same day repeatedly and read the same promising speeches for the past 68 years.” Joewackle’s criticism of Ghana’s political climate is akin to my probe of Nigeria’s politics, too. Yearly, both countries celebrate independence day while social and economic realities keep plummeting. “Economic situations haven’t improved 68 years after. Kids don’t have the language to understand and contextualise what’s going on around them. So, their excitement about March 6th is understandable. Except if you are a kid ready to do these fun-filled activities, the day holds less significance,” he concludes.
The History of the Audio drama.
There are two creation stories for Goodbye, Gold Coast. The first is linked to the COVID-19 era. The pandemic induced a standstill in the world, with numerous creatives and workers losing their jobs. As gloomy as this period was, it inspired new thinking and motivated artists to experiment on ways to make art despite the restrained movement continually. Faced with the possibility of being unable to make films anymore, Joewackle started asking himself what would happen to his filmmaking career. This question caused a mental shift. “It was during the lockdown that I mentally started identifying more as a storyteller other than just a filmmaker. I decided that I was going to tell a story regardless of the visuals,” he recounts.
This identity shift motivated his return to his first love: oral literature. As someone who grew up hearing his mother tell stories, listening to Story, Story on BBC radio or other radio dramas programmed by Ghana’s radio stations, it was an equally nostalgic moment for him. As he informs me, “Oral literature has always leaned into the Ghanaian culture of passing stories through word of mouth from one person and place to another. Making this audio drama is just me getting into that space.” Exposed to numerous audio dramas, the idea for what will become Goodbye, Gold Coast was planted. Originally meant to be the story of two lovers, the story idea took a detour during character development and writing. “In creating the characters, I thought of situating the audio drama in Ghana’s historical moments. After researching, I settled on Ghana’s independence because of how it inspired a wave of independence struggle across the continent, “ he recounts. Additionally, he was interested in telling the stories of everyday people against a historical backdrop.
What did he learn while interrogating the archives? He told me that contrary to general perception, not everyone accepted the idea of independence. It was rejected by elite Ghanaians who benefited from colonialism. For others, who don’t benefit from colonialism, they rejected independence clamour out of ignorance and overt belief in colonial authority. Even the parties fighting for independence had conflicting arguments. One faction wanted independence immediately, while the other faction wanted it delayed. “In our history books, it appeared like there was no internal opposition to independence. On learning that there were oppositions, I wanted, with the audio drama, to explore this.” For anyone who has listened to the audio drama, this conflict is embedded in Rose’s conversation with her uncle. As Joewackle will inform me, not only do these characters belong to different generations, but they have varying political stances. “The divide was everywhere; in schools, houses, religious institutions, families and friendships,” he concludes.
One of the aims was to contextualise and put in perspective different historical dates. It’s also our way of documenting Ghanaian history and exhibiting it differently. With the audio drama, the director and cast members allowed listeners to witness its multi-cultural glory. British Accra, as it was called, was the capital of the country, and it attracted everyone across Ghana. As the British were leaving, indigenes of Accra started gesturing that non-natives leave their regions. Some of the indigenes believed that had the British stayed longer, the other regions would have witnessed development similar to that of Accra. “For us, while creating the story, it was important to present not just this cultural divide but the political and social ones,” he reflects.
The second creation story starts with a grant link. A friend shared the application for one of Africa No Filter’s grants, which he applied for a day to the deadline. Interestingly, he applied with just an idea – no characters, story, or script. As previously established, before receiving the grant application, he had been flirting with the idea of audio content. It was with this idea that he filled in the application form. A few weeks later, he got shortlisted and was invited for a meeting. “During this time, I didn’t have a script and story; it was just an idea. They asked for a meeting, and it was from the questions asked during the meeting that I started developing the story and character,” he tells me with relish in his voice. After the meeting, he won the grant and was now compelled to develop a story and a script. Amidst writing, he decided to find another writer who loves and understands Ghanaian history more than he does. Upon meeting Fui Can-Tamakloe, his co-writer, whom he describes as being incredibly brilliant, they spent about 5 to 6 months writing and researching. When writing ended, a casting call for voice actors was put up. 7 voices were needed, but he got over 400 voice auditions. “That gave me more confidence. We picked our cast. Did virtual rehearsals, too. And we recorded for a day,” he narrates.
Capturing Historical Tension and Dilemma Through Audio
For an audio drama aiming to capture the conflict and tension leading to Ghana’s independence from colonial authority, he and co-writer Can-Tamakloe had to rely heavily on dialogue and voice acting. Another interest of the director is to auditorily present the dilemma of non-Ghanaians who had migrated to the country during colonial rule. “One thing about Ghana is that during the 50s, we had people move into the country. And, we wanted to interrogate what became of those people who had settled into the country when independence happened,” he tells me. Also, the audio drama features children holding conversations about their country’s political and social reality. This motivated me to ask the director of the place of media in documenting history. “The media does what it does. Mostly, they are owned by people who censor their coverage. Thus, there is little they can do in documenting and keeping history,” he says.
As he will inform me, he rarely interrogates local media houses when he creates work. But, with Goodbye, Gold Coast, he found himself actively engaging them while speaking local languages. “I felt this was a Ghana story, and the media engagement is also a way of going outside my immediate community.”The comments and the feedback from the media interaction have been great and overwhelmingly positive. The radio stations find it refreshing, especially due to its historical leaning. Outside of local audiences and media houses, he has exhibited the audio drama in Germany and France. When the audio drama was ready, he shared it with six artists who willingly created different art pieces that were an interpretation of the audio drama.
What’s The Future of the Audio Drama?
There is a decision to make it an annually released series. The next installation, Goldcoast Darling, which will be out next year on March 6th, is currently being developed. “I am looking at telling a story of Ghana’s history that isn’t necessarily about the history but about everyday people and their experiences,” he shares about his ambition. Additionally, starting this weekend, he’s planning on doing a series of listening sessions for visually impaired students. “This is our way of making history and the audio drama accessible to people with disabilities, in this case the visually impaired,” he shares.
As our conversation ended, I asked him what he, as a storyteller and Ghanaian, thinks about Ghana’s independence struggle. He sighed before responding. He said his thoughts about Ghana’s independence are historic. The independence struggle story is a monumental moment in Ghana’s history and across the continent. “For me, as a storyteller and filmmaker, I find the story around Ghana’s independence fascinating and layered. The stories make me understand our complexities as a people and appreciate Ghanaians’ resilience even more. For me, I take so much metaphorical inspiration from it.”
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