This, is my interpretation of Uncle Ebo Whyte’s play he called THE LAST FLIGHT. With the main theme in mind, – human diversity – after all the laughter and merriment at the national theatre, I took with me to my pillow flashes of what I had seen and tried to put them into context. One of the strongest underlying points I noted was that our society shapes us to conform to its rules and obligations and many a time, very few people can ‘bend the society backward’ to a forward position especially when it contravenes what we see as norms. Take for instance Nana, a princely charter who was heir to a throne, who was not allowed to feel love, or express it for his Fante girlfriend (Tracy, a flight stewardess). Believe it or not, in a civilised age as this is supposed to be, there are still denominations of people and cultures that abide by stringent principles as these. Even out of Africa. In the UK it’s not news that royals marry to royalty just to keep the linage pure. So when some people want to be leftist, Princess Diana’s story will be one to reckon with in such a situation. However, it will be wrong to just look at the coin on one side. People who strongly cling to these cultures and practices indeed may have a lot to protect . As deceitful as the human heart is, one can only be careful who to trust and who to wash hands with for food and besides there might be a strong argument that our cultures define us and so we must protect them. As the play went on, Genesis, a young lady whose appearance had been delayed while her client waited patiently for her at the airport, turned out to be the daughter of her supposed weekend lover. Once again, we laughed at Mr Mensah’s folly ( the client ) but in real life will it be something to laugh about – children being forced into prostitution as a result of one or more of, if not all, many easily unavoidable reasons. In this case lack of parental care. Mr Mensah wasn’t poor, he showed his affluence by paying a sum of $1000 dollars on the spot for just two days of sinful pleasure. Mr Mensah was only acting it but there are many men leading this particular role in actual life. Some men become all goggly-eyed when they see women – young, middle-aged, sometimes even retiring mothers. It’s something we are yet to have an explanation for. I know that women were cursed to bear pains during child birth, and to also desire their men above all others. Well, it seems like men on the other hand didn’t get such a ruling so they are somewhat free to desire as many women as they choose. It becomes bothersome though when this looks more like a perennial epidemic worldwide. Save us oh lord from people like “Savior” Impostors, and greedy people. Changing their identities to fit into the society and having the vulnerable ones fall victim of their gimmicks. There are those on the high seats like the Honorable, who has a record with almost every one he met. Raped a young girl, who later had a rough teenage life failed a law student, and had somebody sacked from his job. Power is indeed something worth craving for. You can crush an ant or set a sky scrapper ablaze and go scot free. No wonder there are still power struggles around the world tossing ordinary innocent people back and forth. Would we blame them, we may, but look at the other side of the coin, and you will see that that is the pace set by their predecessors for them to follow. Every once in a while we meet people like “Nash ” mouthy , or rather lousy and verbose people who want all other mouths shut when they speak . They brag about what they have and their good works. Yea … I guess not everyone knows that self praise gives no recommendation. But funnily, Nash thought he was a very humble person. He is a free spirited person and a giver yet still people might hate you for being good. Your worst enemies become members of your own household. In this case “Osei”, Nash’s nephew. He appeared to be a meek ignorant fellow who was rather dull at school but still had the high-brain of a criminal and set his uncle up. The same uncle that has not stopped paying his fees and taking Care of him even when he fails to pass a common exam. Our mentality holds us back. So much greed, envy and covetousness.  Apart from his unorthodox ideas that he blatantly professed and had the crowd in give a thunderous applause and uproar of laughter my eyes were also opened to see that yes indeed the love of money is the root of all evil. And people can even kill for money. Nash who had been protesting against his nephew being threatened with a gun, now took the gun and wanted to shoot his so loved nephew himself just because he had conspired with a thief to steal his money. Chastity a celebrity and her bishop husband also nailed another point home for me. Renowned for her promiscuity, who would have believed that a man devoted to the work of God will take her to be a wife? We all are guilty of being judgmental. But who really sets the standards by which we Judge others and sometimes make them ashamed of who they are. Do we Judge simply for self accreditation, or because we are afraid of the competition which we create for ourselves. I will say most judgmental people have a very low self esteem because if you believe in yourself you won’t want to bring somebody down to make u feel better about who you are. People like chastity in the play, may be defined by their worst angels but deep within, there’s a voice crying out to be heard and a heart dying to reach out to people. Other basic lessons to always arm oneself with in life’s ways are not to make hasty decision, patience is also a virtue and we have to look at the bright side of everything that happens to us . If not for that Honorable, who knew if the CEO of the Fast way airline would have become successful as the lawyer he wanted to be , and would Santo have been a manager if he hadn’t been sacked from his previous place of work as a result of an encounter with him (Honorable ).  The saying goes, “if you can’t see the bright side of life, polish the dull side”. For me the play was a masterpiece, not only entertaining but also very educative. And it caused a rebirth for my love for fine art, drama and writing to be precise. In all off this I will say life indeed is a stage we all have our parts to play we all have our times of entering into the show and making an exit from the stage .it doesn’t matter what role you play, whether you are Nash, who everybody loved or the barman who barley spoke a word (in the play) what matters is how well you play the role so you stand out amongst a million actors which indeed we all are. written by Regina Mondeh | Email: rmundeh@yahoo.com ]]>