Raphael Diai

Bill Rogers Meets God Raphael Diai

In these days of the dearth of new plays for the stage by old and new writers, in these days when publishers are saying they don't publish because people don't write anymore and writers (the few we have) are saying they don't write because they don't get published anymore, Raphael Diai has consciously written a thought provoking two-man piece in the absurd genre in the mode of Samuel Becket, Eugene Lonesco etc. Using contemporary terms in our everyday life, he has looked into the implications of how our identity may affect our situations as we pass through life, juxtaposed with the overall and pervading influence of God, the Almighty. By implication, Raphael has shown us the futility of carrying on without soliciting the direction and guidance of the Supreme one. God will not come down for us to ask questions. We havealways known what to do because the Bible has always been there to show us the way. In other words, what Raphael has written is not new, rather, it is a reminderof the consequences of our waywardness and continued neglect of the Almighty God in our everyday life. By using a writer as one of the characters in the play, Raphael is probably interested in explaining the position, situation of a writer, could this be personal? Raphael as I know him is a very deep thinker and it is not out of line for him to produce this piece, which in my opinion meets the basic ingredients of a stage drama. It is recommended for literature and drama students, both at secondary and tertiary levels. I hope this inspires and spurs budding writers to put their pen to paper. Enjoy the emerging genius of Raphael Diai, as he presents the plays in this volume. Norbert Young