Makers
Among the generation of African intellectuals and cultural activists in Ghana’s intensely patriotic independence era, one whose name still stands in prominence is Dr. Mrs. Efua Theodora Sutherland, popularly known as Auntie Efua. She is remembered for being an astute storyteller, playwright, director, dramatist, children's author, poet, educationalist, researcher, child advocate, dedicated cultural activist, and the inspirational founder of several cultural institutions in Ghana (Adams & Sutherland-Addy, 2007). With this past July marking her centennial year, Ghana’s Arts and Culture community and the African diaspora will be carrying on with celebrations throughout the rest of 2024. Although her great achievements leave a lot to remember her by, the memory of one of her greatest contributions to the field of theatre arts – the original Efua Sutherland Drama Studio, an Adinkra-inspired open-air theatre that once stood in the 14-Acre Children’s Park which now bears her name – has fast faded even in the minds of those who should be old enough to remember it. In1987, the government made a decision to demolish the theatre and replace it with the present National Theater of Ghana. Her fear was that the memory of her 25-year period of research and creative work in the development of Ghana's drama arts would eventually vanish with the physical absence of the theatre (Freeman et al., 2017). Despite her protests, it was finally demolished in 1990 and replaced with the Chinese-designed National Theatre building (Botwe-Asamoah, 2005). This article honors her dedication to theatre architecture, which she later dubbed"Kodzidan." It aims to restore the spatial memory of her cherished original theatre in commemoration of her 100th birthday.
In early post-independence Accra, there was a boom in high-rise buildings designed in the international style named Tropical Modernism, a style dictated by British architects who still ruled the architectural practice space. Ironically, despite the ‘Europeanization’ of Accra’s skyline at this time, it was also a period of rising nationalism – the euphoria of self-governance,‘ Africanization’, and high aspirations of a liberated and unified Africa. This bolstered the search for an African identity in several African states, which fueled an invigorated arts and cultural scene in their capital cities. In Ghana, a ten-member Arts Council would be the main engine driving the use of theatre, music, art, and dance to foster this new African identity. The Arts Council of Ghana, set up in 1955, established a National Theatre Movement. Dr. Mrs. Efua T. Sutherland, one of the ten members of the council, led the charge in the field of theatre and drama (Donkor, 2017; Freeman et al., 2017).
According to urban theatre researcher Loren Kruger (1992), the founders of national theatres all over the world have tried to cultivate national consciousness through the creation of a national repertoire. For Dr. Efua Sutherland, founding a theatre went beyond the nation to embrace the spirit of Pan-Africanism and ‘Sankofa’(meaning ‘go back and fetch it’) with clear anti-colonial overtones. In 1958, aspart of the vision for African unity, she launched the Experimental TheatrePlayers, with a dedicated focus on bringing exclusively African literature to the stage for the modern Ghanaian and all African peoples. She also founded and became the editor of the literary magazine ‘Okyeame’ which contained her short story “Samantaase”, a retelling of a folktale. In the early 1970s,Sutherland also co-founded the publishing company Afram Publications, which was incorporated in 1973, and in March 1974 began operating from her private studio in “Araba Mansa”, her compound in Dzorwulu, Accra.
The quintessential Efua T. Sutherland, courtesy the archives of Efua Theodora Sutherland
Numerous academics who have examined her life and work have commented that this purposeful concentration reflected the anti-colonial spirit of the times, which she was deeply passionate about. Literary scholar Kofi Ermeleh Agovi stated that European social clubs and colonial schools, during the colonial era, had designed the arts to put Africans in a position of total allegiance to Western forms of representation (Agovi, 1991). Historian Robert July observed that, at the time, ‘School texts and literature as well as school plays were all Western’ (July, 1983). To mitigate this, Dr Sutherland would use solely African folklore as a resource for theatre. Through her stage work, the foundational expression of Africa’s indigenous cultural values onstage and film was set for generations to come, hence her being referred to as one of the ‘fore mothers of African cinema’ (Collins Ba, 2011; Doutimiariye & Benue, 2023). Dr. Sutherland's approach was in line with the words of Pan-African author, professor, and clergyman Edward Wilmot Blyden, who stated that Africa could only reach its predetermined heights by developing its own cultural and educational institutions and "building a shield of cultural nationalism to repulse the assault of European cultural imperialism" (Leahu, 2009). Quickly gaining prominence inPan-African circles, in 1958, she proposed to President Nkrumah that he should assist in establishing and building a Ghana Drama Studio which would be distinctly African in its architectural design and help spread the Pan-African message. The president promptly agreed.
The construction of the DramaStudio was funded by the Ghana government's Fund for Tomorrow and the Ministry of Education through an appeal by the Arts Council and with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation. The design began in 1959 with Sutherland’sAkan-motif-inspired concept and architectural drawings by the Danish architectural firm Geelack and Giles. The octagonal 700m2 400-capacity open-air theatre was completed in 1961 as an iconic place for African drama surrounded by modern and international-style icons such as the Ambassador Hotel, theAmerican Embassy and the new Ministries buildings (Adams & Sutherland-Addy, 2007; Yeboah, 2021).The Ghana Drama Studio had three objectives: First, to create, stimulate the new Ghana theatre movement, and to provide opportunities for training artists through participation in dramatic productions; Secondly, to provide opportunities and a venue for the meeting of writers, musicians, producers, actors, choreographers, and designers and thirdly, to provide talent, material, and ideals for the programs of the national theatre.
The uniqueness of Sutherland’s drama studio was its use of Adinkra cultural symbolism for architectural conceptualization and employing notions of traditional space as inspiration for its design. Dr. Sutherland chose to model the plan of the open-air studio on the architecture of a typical Akan dwelling, the traditional compound home (Donkor, 2017). The typology is characteristic of West African forest regions. The plan form of these compound homes with central courtyards were conceptual derivations of the Fihankra – theAkan symbol of ‘house’ or ‘security’. The Ashanti traditional shrine house better explains the concept. It was comprised of 4 buildings arranged in a quadrangle with a central courtyard (gyaase). One of these buildings would be the entrance(ntronum). The external walls would usually have minimal motif designs.
The Efua Sutherland Drama Studio in the Accra Ridge Park, 1965. Courtesy BEL Archives.
The other building would be an open but covered area where the drummers sat during traditional ceremonies. In homes, this was often opposite the entrance and was a place to receive visitors. In terms of theatre layouts, it would be a stage.
Dr. Efua Sutherland stated in an interview that she wanted the Drama Studio to be a symbol or “something that people could point their hands to and say, that’s the place where experiments in African drama were going on.” For her, it was important that the building itself embody the idea of a Ghanaian courtyard. The courtyard was the social or communal locus of the residents of the house. All daily domestic activities happened there: washing, cooking, playing, and socializing. Ceremonial events such as marriage and child naming ceremonies, puberty rites and family gatherings were all conducted in the courtyard. It was the place where storytelling took place, both as a form of entertainment and also as a way to transmit oral histories. Dr. Sutherland pointed out that these courtyard activities included oratory performances, acting, music and dancing, all of which serve as rich, authentic folkloric resources for African theatre (July, 1983).
Similar to other Adinkra symbols, the Fihankra displays perfect symmetry, as evidenced by the Drama studio design. One defining aspect of its design was the entrance, which had a floating concrete slab shaped like the seat of an Akan stool, a representation of authority. This is in line with the Akan tradition, when visitors are allowed entry into a family by the elders. Attached to the external wall on either side of the theater’s entrance are two large Akuaba style dolls, one male, the other female. These sculptures were the work of the famous Ghanaian sculptor Dr. Oko Ampofo. The Akuaba dolls are symbols of fertility. On the walls of the Drama studio, they would mark it as incubator or ‘womb’ of creative ideas. The interior of the entrance was decorated with geometric northern Ghanaian (Gurensi) wall motifs, giving the studio a cross-country cultural reference. The geometric designs on the walls of Gurensi compounds were exclusively the handiwork of women working communally.
The Drama studio design placed the audience in the octagonal courtyard. It served as the main focal point and lent itself to "theaters in the round" productions in keeping with African storytelling customs. There was also the proscenium type stage, which is the typical layout where the audience face the stage in one direction, as in Western theater.
This image: Reconstructed floor plan of the original Drama Studio by Arc. David Kojo Derban Below: A 3-D reconstruction of the original Drama Studio by Arc. David Kojo Derban
Then came the memorable evening of 21 October 1961, when the drama "Everyman" was presented in the newly opened theater. As patron, President Nkrumah, with his wife Lady Fathia, were honored guests. Ministers of state, dignitaries, diplomats, intellectuals from Ghana's diaspora and cultural activists comprised the august audience. That night, the seats for the audience were Akan stools with custom carvings (Agovi, 1991; Banham, 2004; July, 1987).
The Drama Studio had a tremendously creative phase from 1961 to 1963. Foriwaa, New Life at Kyerefaso, Edufa, The Marriage of Anansewaa, Anansegorɔ (a collection of Ananse dramas), and Wohyɛɛ Me Bo (You Made Me aPromise) were the best-known of several of her works that were performed at theDrama Studio. Among the plays performed in the early years of theatre were Sons and Daughters, by Joe de Graft, a close associate of Dr. Sutherland (Kwakye-Opong & Gharbin, 2017). Other Pan-African authors who were inspired by Dr. Sutherland's vision also had their plays produced in the Drama studio were Nigerian playwrights James Ene Henshaw, Wole Soyinka and Haitian playwright Morisseau-Leroy. The studio also presented plays by older established authors, such as “The Blinkards” written in 1915 by Kobina Sekyi. Two works from the 1940s included The Third Woman by J. B. Danquah and The Fifth Landing Stage by Ferdinand Kwasi Fianwoo.
The fame of Drama Studio gained Dr. Sutherland many personal friends of international repute such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King,Maya Angelou, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Ghanaian author and poet Ama Ata Aidoo, whom she considered a sister. Dr Kobina Nketia the ethnomusicologist, and many other cultural giants were among her large circle of friends and collaborators whom she worked with at the Institute of African Studies (Banham, 2004; July, 1983).
Dr. Efua Sutherland's deepest passion was children’s education. She wrote several children’s books in the sixties – Playtime in Africa with photography by Willis Bell, The Road Makers (1960), Obaatan Kesewa, Vulture Vulture and Tabinta and several unpublished plays including Ananse and the Dwarf Bridge, Nyamekye, and the Pineapple Child (Adams & Sutherland-Addy, 2007; Doutimiariye & Benue, 2023).
Among her many chieftain friends, including the Mamponghene and Ga Mantse was one friend she held dear: Nana Baah Okoampah VI, the female chief of the town of Atwia in the Central Region ofGhana. The chief, herself a gifted orator and dramatist, was the embodiment of the tradition of storytelling. In 1969, she gave a piece of land to Dr. Efua Sutherland to establish the Kodzidan project (House of Stories) – a theatre space, built in the heart of the town, that would unearth the artistic talents of both the young and old in the Atwia community. Under a huge hexagonal roof, the open space invited audience participation at any time of the day. It was not long before there was a noticeable reduction in drug use and early pregnancy among the youth of the town. The Kodzidan drama programs taught the town’s youth to take an interest in improving sanitation and living healthy lives. This was the birth of community development through the performing arts. The Kodzidan project took theatre meant for the upper classes of Accra to the rural dwellers. Kodzidan was also the exemplar of what is known today as the Regional Cultural Center (Lokko, 1980).
In the eighties, now at the pinnacle of her career, she presided over Ghana's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the first country to do so) and chaired the NationalCommission on Children from 1983 to 1990. At this point, she had given speeches at over 100 international conferences in her entire career and today has a street in Amsterdam, the Efua Sutherlandstraat named after her.
There is hardly a cultural institution in Ghana that does not owe its existence partly or wholly to Dr. Efua Sutherland: The Ghana National Commission on Children, The National Theatre Movement, Ghana Association of Writers, Abibigromma, W.E.B Du Bois Center for Pan-Africanism, PANAFEST (the Pan-African Festival of Arts and Culture), and the Mmofra (Children’s) Foundation to name a few. She was a mentor to many Ghanaian poets and writers such as Meshack Asare, Kofi Anyidoho, Mohammed Ben Abdallah, and many others of later generations (Adams & Sutherland-Addy, 2007).
In 1985, the government of Ghana received assistance from the People's Republic of China to finally build a National Theatre. After some years of searching for a suitable site, they decided on the location of the Drama Studio primarily because it was central. The theater was marked to be demolished after 25 years of existence. The Chinese, who have great love and respect for the arts and culture, on learning that the demolition of the Drama Studio did not please such a venerated matriarch of the theatre arts, respectfully offered to build a replica of the Drama studio at their own expense at the University of Ghana. A smaller, but not perfect replica was built on the University of Ghana campus. Dr. Sutherland never set foot in either the National Theatre or the University of Ghana drama studio (Banham, 2004). She had not imagined that the great NationalTheatre of Ghana, for which she had campaigned tirelessly for 30 years, would finally become a reality at the expense of something else so dear to her heart. She spent her twilight years in her large library at home receiving a host of researchers, and admirers including actors, actresses, writers and producers on her 5-acre woody estate, named Mmofra Place, in Accra. Auntie Efua passed away in January 1996, aged 71 (Adams & Sutherland-Addy, 2007).
In a modest way, Dr. Efua T. Sutherland's Experimental Drama Studio pioneered the use of Adinkra-inspired concepts and aesthetics in the architecture of Ghanaian urban public spaces. Based on this idea, Ghana's CulturalPolicy (2004) established African aesthetics in architecture, urban planning, and design, but tragically it was never put into practice. Dr. Sutherland’s centennial anniversary should ignite fresh perspectives on contemporary African Architecture among architects, planners and interior designers whose objective should be to see it go further past policy.
References
Adams, A. V, & Sutherland-Addy, E. (2007). The Legacy of Efua Sutherland: Pan-African Cultural Activism. 292. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ExNnAAAAMAAJ
Agovi, K. E. (1991). Towards an Authentic African Theatre. A Journal of AfricanStudies, 19, 2–3. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/72j9n7n2
Banham, M. (2004). A history of Theatre in Africa.
Botwe-Asamoah, K. (2005). Kwame Nkrumah’s Politico-Cultural Thought And Policies.
CollinsBa, S. (2011). Playwriting and Postcolonialism: identifying the key factors in the development and diminution of playwriting in Ghana 1916-2007.
Donkor, D. A. (2017). Making space for performance: Theatrical-architecturalnationalism in post-independence Ghana. In Theatre History Studies (Vol.36, pp. 29–56). Mid-America Theatre Conference.https://doi.org/10.1353/ths.2017.0002
Doutimiariye, A. S., & Benue, Z. G. (2023). The Culture of Resistance in Six AfricanPlays by African Female Playwrights.
Freeman,S., Burch, S. Dedalus., Chansky, Dorothy., Colleary, E. J., Connelly, Stacey.,Cross, L. C., Curley, Eileen., Donkor, D. Afriyie., & Epplett, Shannon.(2017). Theatre history studies. 2017, Volume 36. 371.https://books.google.com/books/about/Theatre_History_Studies_2017_Vol_36.html?id=-EU_DwAAQBAJ
July,R. W. (1983). Toward Cultural Independence in Africa: Some Illustrations fromNigeria and Ghana. In Source: African Studies Review (Vol. 26, Issue 4).https://www.jstor.org/stable/524165
July,R. W. (1987). The Role of the Humanities in African Independence.
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