The Blinkards

A witty, razor-sharp satire exposing the absurdities of colonial mimicry in early 20th-century Cape Coast, The Blinkards skewers the Western-obsessed elite who abandon their own culture in pursuit of superficial refinement. It is a timeless comedic critique of identity, pretension and the cost of cultural self-erasure. Written in 1915, The Blinkards helped to establish Kobina Sekyi as ‘the Bernard Shaw of West Africa’. The Blinkards is a sharp, comic satire that follows the Western-obsessed Mrs Borofosem and her family as they eagerly adopt European customs, abandoning their Fanti roots in the process. Set in early 20th-century Cape Coast, the play exposes the absurdities and social tensions created when the group attempts to mimic British manners – from clothing and speech to courtship and marriage – while scorning their own traditions. When Mrs Borofosem takes young Miss Tsiba under her wing in hopes of remaking her into a proper 'English lady', a cascade of misunderstandings, cultural clashes and family conflicts unfolds, revealing the emptiness of blind imitation and the costs of cultural self-erasure. Discover the APOLLO AFRICA series: the new home for 100 timeless works from the legendary Heinemann African Writers Series.