Lieutenant Colonel Ayang Frederick Enoh in the drama piece, ‘A Woman Spoke,’ revisits the issue of violence against women and girls.

Prefaced by Professor Joyce Bongo Endeley and proof-read by Professor Nol Alembong, the 54-page play wages an endless war against the callous suppression of some women by their husbands. This is because men in some traditional African societies treat women like beasts of burden, baby-production machines and kindergarten children.

Thanks to the timely intervention of Wise One and Fon, the play does not reject the age-old institution of marriage. In Act 1 Scene 3, Afor hotly contends: “Is it worth anything getting married? Should one waste time to get a husband? That person who will bring you sorrow and distress? That person who will give you every reason to cry because of insults? Where then does one go for protection when the one you marry becomes a brutal man?” Iku prolongs the contention: “What if we tell our parents that if this nonsense does not stop, we will never accept to marry any man?”

Every couple swears on the altar to live together either for better or for worse. Why can they not equally pledge that in the event of misunderstanding, they will be sincere in seeking solutions? ‘Brutal Man,’ as the author describes Atambi, chases his wife round the village with sticks, machetes and guns, shouting, “I go killam pay,” simply because a woman spoke.

Why should Engoweih blame Atambi for being the sole cause of her suffering? Why can she not equally blame herself for accepting to get married to him? If her marriage has become as hot as that part of hell John Milton refers to in ‘Paradise Lost’ as Dis, why then does she not leave? Maybe, marriage is more important to her than her life! At the end, Wise One and Fon resolve the marriage crisis between Atambi and Engoweih.

The author, Lieutenant Colonel Ayang Frederick Enoh, is holder of a DEA (Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies) in Theatre Studies from the defunct University of Yaounde (today, the University of Yaounde I). He also holds a Diploma in the Teaching of English from the Canadian Forces Language Institute. Apart from being a founding member of ‘The Flame Players’ - a semi-professional and limited liability theatre troupe, he also founded the Yaounde University Workshop Theatre in 1991. ‘A Woman Spoke’ is his second publication after the award-winning play, ‘Green Hills.’