Anansegoro: Ghana’s National Theatre

Anansegoro marks a pivotal point in the development in post-independence Ghanaian theatre. Developed in the 1960s, it represents a moment of convergence between theatrical innovation, political will, and a shared desire to develop a new theatre for a newly independent nation. This book provides a clear, useable guide to that moment and the unique form of theatre that resulted from it.

Anansegoro was positioned as a cornerstone of theatre training in Ghana, with generations of theatre makers drawing on Ghana’s rich folk heritage in the creation of new plays. Uniquely, the authors examine how the introduction of the 2005 Ghana Copyright Act, which protects Ghana’s folklore from commercial use has contributed to the steep decline in theatre making in Ghana in the 21st century.

Developed by Efua Sutherland (1924-1996) and her company following Ghana’s independence from Britain in 1957, Anansegoro draws directly from the precolonial form of village storytelling, Ananses?m (literally stories about Ananse, the spider god). In Ananses?m a storyteller leads the audience through a story, to which they respond with song, dance and shifts to the narrative. Anansegoro merges these village storytelling traditions with Sutherland’s education in western theatre, resulting in a distinctly Ghanaian performance style for the modern stage.

With the support of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, Sutherland established much of Ghana’s modern theatre infrastructure, with Anansegoro providing the template for playwrights that followed. Featuring a study of Abibigoro, the theatrical form established by Mohammed ben Abdallah in the 1980s, the book explores how Anansegoro was developed, expanded and in some ways rejected by a generation of playwrights.