The dramatic dive into the theme of reproductive rights is not your typical Christmas story from Detales Productions, however, Elsie Esinam Srodah still managed five-star ratings with audiences at Cida Hall, ATTC on Saturday, 22nd December 2018 with her latest original play, Santa Baby.

It was quite interesting to see an audience not in a hurry to leave the auditorium long after the curtain call because they were so engrossed in discussions after the evening show. In attendance were renowned creators, writers, and professional practitioners in the field such as Francis Gbormittah, a lecturer at University of Ghana Legon, and an international journal researcher of the Performing Arts, Vivian Boateng, an assistant lecturer at the department of theatre arts University of Ghana and Eyram Evans Adorkor a renowned dramatist from Goethe Institute. These professionals in the field had nothing but great reviews for Elsie’s art of storytelling.

While Vivian responded to this from a real place, sharing that she has a friend going through this ordeal, Francis used his academic research lenses to state that Elsie’s work transports women in a progressional direction and Eyram had nothing but respect for the piece, referring to it as the golden standard. 

The story, although interspersed with humor to lighten the mood, is an emotional, heartwarming, and delicate recount of a couple’s yuletide dream for a baby as they face backlashes from loved ones.

Whenever the Darko’s got together for Christmas, Silvia’s mother-in-law poked at the couple’s childlessness. Something we’re all too familiar with, in a society where children are the ultimate crown of most marriages. Well-equipped by Elsie’s intuitive writing, the couple played by Jackie Fadel and Gideon Boakye performed incredibly well, by giving the audience permission to feel their vulnerability.

The key significance of Elsie Srodah’s Santa Baby is that it bridges the contextual gap of reproductive rights that is specific to the social disparities in Ghana. Using her characters to articulate fundamental human rights, we understand by the end of the story that the freedom to decide when to have a baby is just as important as one’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing, particularly for women. Every woman has a right to her body. No one should be reminded the clock is ticking so you should have a baby now.

This message hits home when Elsie intensifies her plot with some tension at the Christmas table when Silvia’s mother-in-law passes harsh comments like ‘you may as well serve your eggs on the plate before it goes to waste’ and we hear the audience gasping in shock.

Elsie has an extraordinary signature mark of twisting her stories like no other writer. As fate would have it, Santa shows up on time with a bundle of joy to save the day with a happy ending for all.