The production of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe's APTS, Acquired Prison Traumatic Syndrome, given in the presence of the playwright at the Efua T. Sutherland Drama Studio, Legon, Ghana, on 27 August 2005, represented a major outing for a new play of national significance. Sadly, the production was not as bold as the text.

In the course of the fluid, wide-ranging drama, the audience was repeatedly reminded that there were parallels between events in the play and the history of the nation in which it was being performed. The challenge of independence was alluded to again and again, and the audience became aware that they were watching a drama addressed to the Ghanaian nation as an historic milestone approached.

There are those, Michael Etherton among them, who have pointed out that it has been the fate of African dramatists to have their multi-layered texts reduced to simple, or simplistic, statements on national debates. My impression is that, though his play is not simplistic, Mawugbe would not mind the national parallels being drawn.