History of Set Design in Ghana: A Study of Productions of Concert Party, National Theatre, and the Efua Theodora Sutherland Studio, 1960–2000

Abstract

The study sought to trace the history of set design in Ghana through the study of some selected productions of the Concert Party, the National Theatre and the Efua Theodora Sutherland Studio. The qualitative research design was employed for the study. Two sampling techniques were employed to gather data for the research; purposive sampling technique was used to select a total of 12 respondents for the study, and sequential sampling technique was used in selecting the documents for analysis. The outcome from the research revealed that the travelling theatre tradition; Concert Party employed a minimal use of set design, using bill bards and painted canvases which served advertisement purposes, as background for the performances. From the time the Keysoap brand of the Unilever Brothers Ltd. Ghana, together with the Ghana National Theatre organized a revival series of the dying Concert Party tradition, set design has steadily developed from a two-dimensional representation of geographical locations, to a three-dimensional realistic, naturalistic (rocks, houses, huts, trees, forests, etc.), and representational design for performances at the National Theatre and Efua Theodora Sutherland Studio. The study recommends that future researchers expend energies on how technological development has influenced the advancement of set design in Ghana. Considering the difficulty encountered in acquiring materials for study, it is also recommended that archives are established to keep relevant documents of performances.