George Quaye’s Image Bureau and Naa Ashorkor’s April Communications have received a lot of plaudits after staging one of Africa's popular plays, The Gods Are Not to Blame.

The adaptation of Sophocles’ original Greek classic Oedipus Rex, authored by Nigeria’s Ola Rotimi, staged on December 2 and 3, 2023, at the National Theatre in Accra.

Veteran actor David Dontoh, who played the narrator, gave a captivating narration of the story.

The Gods Are Not to Blame tells the story of a boy called Odewale (played by Andrew Adote) who was destined by birth to kill his father King Adetusa and marry his own mother, Queen Ojuola (Naa Ashorkor).

Typical of most African communities, Odewale's parents had gone to find out the destiny of their son from a diviner, Baba Fakunle (played by Mawuli Semevo), a priest of Ifa.

According to the soothsayer, Baba Fakunle, Odewale was sent by the gods to kill his father and marry his mother. He said the only way they could reverse this was to kill Odewale. At the behest of Fakunle, the Ogun priest (which was played Fred Amugi), tied Odewale's legs, and ordered that he was taken to the forest to be killed.

But the priest's chief messenger, Gbonka, was so merciful. He did not kill Odewale. He rather handed him over to a hunter, Ogundele, in the forest.

Odewale grew into an aggressive man who had to leave the house of his adopted parents after proving increasingly obstinate.

The plot thickens as he finally killed an old man who he later found out to be his biological father. While he found himself back at Kutuje after 32 years, he was made the king after he led them to war to triumph over their foes.

As predicted by the diviner, King Odewale finally married his mother Queen Ojuole and had four children with her.

However, the plot got even more complicated when a plague hit the people of Kutuje. After consultation, it was revealed that the cause of the problem was Odewale - the murderer of the late king Adetusa.

Social media and other traditional media platforms have been awash with rave reviews not just on the story, but about the entire production: stage, lighting, props, directing and the flawless acting displayed by the cast.

See some of the comments below: