Theatre Spaces and their Suitability for Productions: A Comparative Study of the Efua Sutherland Drama Studio and the National Theatre of Ghana.

Abstract

This study examines the suitability or otherwise of the National Theatre of Ghana and the Efua Theodora Sutherland Drama Studio (E.T.S Drama Studio) at the University of Ghana, taking into account what these structures entail as theatre spaces for productions. This research then became significant because the researcher realised not much documentation has been done on these structures especially in terms of what each possesses and what it does not. Hence this study seeks first to fill the vacuum and to add up to existing knowledge. The study is based primarily on library materials, including books, web documents, and journal articles both electronic and print. Among these is The Legacy of Efua Sutherland: Pan-African Cultural Activism (2007). The researcher employed the qualitative research design and purposively sampled her respondents for the interviews. The data collected was analysed with various productions to establish how suitable or otherwise each space presented itself for the various kinds of productions mounted in them.