A multipurpose theatre is better than an amphitheatre, popular theatre producer and director Francis 'Oxygyn' Nutakor has argued.

He was comparing an amphitheatre in Kumasi under construction by President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration to former President John Mahama’s envisioned second national theatre in the same city.

Nutakor spoke to Prince Benjamin (PB) on Class 91.3 FM’s Class Morning Show, Friday, November 15, 2024.

He worried open-air facilities would hamper theatre productions.

“An amphitheatre is usually round and it’s an open-air [facility]. Kumasi already has open-air facilities. Sometimes if the weather is not favourable, you need to cancel the production you’ve invested in. You cannot do production during the day, because [due to the daylight] you don’t get [the desired] look and feel of [the production] as we get in a room,” he explained.

“So some of us, when we heard the NPP was building amphitheatres, we said, ‘Judging from where we are now in industry, we don’t need a lot of amphitheatres’. They said six. No, [rather] build one somewhere and give us auditoriums for the rest.”

Francis Nutakor pointed out how lucrative indoor auditoriums were, due to their resilience.  

“For example, the Grand Arena is cashing out. They’ve gone to build a new one Pavilion. These are not amphitheaters. These are auditoriums for conferences and other stuff,” he said.

“That is what the industry is calling for. So that if I’m a light or sound person and I’m bringing my logistics, I know even if it rains the show can still go on, it is safe. If I’m an event producer, and I’m booking it, I know I don’t need to worry about [appropriate] lighting effects and all that I want,” he emphasised.

Nutakor expressed confidence the National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader John Mahama would fulfil his promise, seeing as it was the NDC that built Ghana’s first national theater in Accra in 1992.

He suggested, however, the Kumasi theater should be a 5000-seater, compared to Accra's 1,500-seater.

Ghana goes to the polls on Saturday, December 7.

While the NDC is led by Mahama – a figure popular for his infrastructural legacy – the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is led by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia – a figure who is big on digitalisation.