Theatre and development: The Ghanaian case
That theatre and its psyche is grossly misunderstood in the Ghanaian society due to deep ignorance about what theatre is all about cannot be disputed by any sincere authoritative expert of theatre or theatre critic.
Before I begin my discourse on this important topic, let me first of all explicitly explain what theatre is all about, and its all-encompassing implication in any human society, in the past, in the present and for that matter, the future.
The word or term theatre is derived from the root Greek word, “theatron”. This word literally means “seeing place”
And what does this mean by the way?
Theatre is instrically a reflection or mirror of what takes place or happens in the society of humans. It mirrors all that human beings do daily in their lifestyles by their interactions with each other.
Writers or playwrights who write on theatre create stories about what happens in the society; and these stories are acted on the stage for audience to watch. The stories may have subjects and themes on issues of health, agriculture, sanitation, education, politics, history, religion, tradition etc. of the society.
Thus, playwrights in a society do observe and see how human beings behave in their daily lifestyles, and write stories about these to be acted on stage for an audience to watch, for the purpose of information, education and entertainment.
And in this way; it can be said that theatre or “theatron” for that matter is a projection of all issues which emanates from the actions and activities of human beings, living in a particular society or nation for that matter.
Theatre is therefore, a part and parcel of the society; and it is embedded in the character or lifestyles of the people.
Writers and playwrights by their writings or works can reprove, admonish, inspire, direct the people in all fields of human endeavour; and in a way preserve, precipitate progress and development of the society or nation.
It must be noted that it was the result of a vibrant theatre practice that the ancient Greeks achieved the Golden Age of Civilisation in the 5th century B.C during the reign of King Perides.
At this time of recorded history, theatre was at its apogee of practice in ancient Greece.
The ancient Greeks left their great achievements of knowledge, enlightenment and advancement in all fields of human endeavour – arts science and technology to the Romans who pursued theatre practice to reach their enlightenment and greatness as the great Roman Empire of the ancient world, which survived and lasted for many many years.
The great Roman Empire became the way shower of knowledge and enlightenment to the rest of the world.
And now in the modern world of today, countries such as America and China have achieved great wealth, power and advancement as a result of a vibrant theatre practice.
It will be of much interest to note that America the most wealthy and powerful; nation on earth today derives two-thirds of her revenue generation capacity to build her powerful economy from theatre and its adjunct, film production music and dance!
This indisputable fact and truth may sound amazing to many a lay Ghanaian citizen who up to now despise theatre practice owing to deep ignorance, and do not know what theatre is all about.
Indeed, theatre is the sine qua non of knowledge, enlightenment, development and prosperity of all nations in the past, the present and the future!
The unpalatable Ghanaian situation of ignorance about the priceless value of theatre and development beats one’s understanding so much to the extent that one wonders about the fact that literary Ghanaian theatre began in the early 1960’s; and it is yet to make a great impact in the Ghanaian society!
Although Ghana possess a gigantic theatre complex building in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, which was built at a huge cost of 10 million U/S Dollars loan from the Chinese government, negotiated for by the erstwhile PNDC government under Ft. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings of blessed memory, Ghana is still yet to find her feet in vibrant theatre practice.
The theatre psyche in Ghana as at now, is extremely low to incite vibrant theatre practice!
In the light of the present low theatre psyche in Ghana, I will humbly suggest that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts and the National Commission on Culture should collaborate now and brainstorm ideas; and develop a blueprint for the effective promotion of theatre practice in the country to meet world standards.
In his book titled “Black African Theatre and Its Social Functions” Tayeb Sadiki, the world renowned Moroccan dramatist and theatre practitioner has stated: “If you want to build a nation, start with a national theatre”, and Ghana has a gigantic theatre building complex to promote vibrant theatre practice.
In conclusion, I state categorically that Ghana needs to develop her theatre practice to a very high level to meet world’s standards, so that her developmental aspirations can be accelerated to bring about a very high level of development; for theatre is the sine qua non for all developmental aspirations; and Ghana cannot be an exception to this universal rule.
BY MICHAEL AKENOO: THEATRE CRITIC
