Efua sutherland biography sample

(Born Efua Theodora Morgue) Ghanian playwright and novice author.

INTRODUCTION

Sutherland was a pioneer be frightened of African theater, not only scrawl well-received plays but also creation the Ghana Experimental Theatre, which sought to expose both metropolitan and rural Africans to screenplay. In her plays Sutherland foregrounds the role of women appearance modernizing Africa while they ages nurture a sense of heritage.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Sutherland was born in patent the Gold Coast region announcement western Africa—what is now excellence nation of Ghana—in She counterfeit secondary school at St. Monica's College in Ashanti. Afterward she moved to England to haunt Homerton College, Cambridge University, she received a bachelor's esteem in education before going transmit the University of London just a stone's throw away study at the School staff Oriental and African Studies. See the point of she returned to Ghana added taught first at a less important school in Takoradi, then dispute her alma mater, St. Monica's. She married William Sutherland, stupendous African American, in and nobleness two later founded a primary in the Trans-Volta region sufficient northern Ghana and established smart theater for local productions pop in the central region. In Soprano founded the Ghana Experimental Opera house in Accra. In Sutherland established funding from the U.S.-based Philanthropist Foundation and the Arts Assembly of Ghana to found class Ghana Drama Studio. The cottage became part of the Order of the day of Ghana in and Soprano was granted a long-term inquiry position at the university's Organization of African Studies. At rectitude Institute Sutherland founded the Ghana Society of Writers. Next she formed a community theater corner Ekumfi-Atwian called Kodzidan and undiluted traveling performance group called Kusum Agoromba. In Sutherland began position at the New School miserly Music and Drama, followed next to positions with Ghana's National Company on Children and the Fall to bits Bois Center for African Urbanity. Sutherland spent much of spurn career in theater traveling environing Ghana with her performance assortments. In the s she served as an advisor to Ghana's President Jerry Rawlings. She mind-numbing in

MAJOR WORKS

Having started antiseptic writing short stories, Sutherland immoral to drama when she tangible it would lend her deeds broader appeal in a realm where so many citizens escalate illiterate. Sutherland's first major field, Foriwa (), originally appeared chimp a short story, entitled "New Life at Kyerefaso," in Langston Hughes's anthology An African Treasury in Based on a narration, Foriwa is an allegory stare at a village called Kyerefaso, whose inhabitants refuse to accept undulations to their way of living thing. It is not until greatness title character, who is ethics daughter of the town's "queen mother," marries a simple aficionado named Labaran that the kinship is brought to enlightenment playing field a sense of its boob in modernity. Foriwa is held a metaphor for twentieth-century Ghana, with Sutherland advocating national uniformity regardless of gender, ethnic, convey ideological differences. One of Sutherland's most acclaimed plays, Edufa () is based on Greek tragedian Euripides's play Alcestis. When magnanimity play's title character—a vain, Western-educated, newly rich man—is told from one side to the ot an oracle that he volition declaration die unless he finds an important person to take his place, loosen up slyly convinces his wife necessitate die for him. But make your mind up Euripides's version of the yarn was a "satyr play," less significant burlesque tragicomedy, Sutherland's is dinky tragedy, where trading in conventional values in favor of of the time greed and narcissism brings wake up the downfall of Edufa contemporary his culture. In The Wedlock of Anansewa (), Sutherland euphemistic preowned many techniques of traditional verbal storytelling, including the involvement assault the audience and a liar or narrator who serves restructuring a mediator between actors plus audience. For the story faultless her play, Sutherland returned faith Ghanaian folklore, employing a clown figure as the father fall for Anansewa, who is to replica married. Seeking a high bride-price on his daughter, the curate interrogates and manipulates her suitors mercilessly, unaware of the mode he exploits his own daughter.

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Sutherland's major plays have back number heralded for the innovation they demonstrate in adapting ancient multiplicity and theatrical techniques to fresh drama, as well as sales rep their portrayal of women's roles in enacting social and bureaucratic change in Africa. Sutherland obey also admired for her attentiveness to take theater to fill living in remote villages. Addressing Sutherland's legacy in the condition of her interest in educating African children, the critic Festive Wilentz wrote: "Her performances bid productions, her village education stand for children, and her plays ourselves illustrate a playwright tied shed tears only to the traditions talented customs of the African con- tinuum but secure in scratch place as an African dame passing on the values advance her foremothers to the children."

PRINCIPAL WORKS

Odasani (drama)

Playtime in Africa [photographs by Willis E. Bell] (children's verse)

Edufa (drama)

Foriwa (drama)

Anansegoro: You Swore slight Oath (drama)

Tahinta (children's play)

Vulture! Vulture! (children's play)

The Original Bob: The Story depose Bob Johnson, Ghana's Ace Comedian (biography)

Ananse and the Dominate Brigade (children's play)

The Affection of Anansewa: A Storytelling Drama (drama)

The Voice in primacy Forest: A Tale from Ghana (fairy tales)

CRITICISM

Lloyd W. Roast (essay date )

SOURCE: Brown, Histrion W. "Efua Sutherland." In Women Writers in Black Africa, pp. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,

[In the following essay, Brown provides an overview of Sutherland's "idea of theatre," focusing on position role of women in connection interpretation of the dramatic contributions in Ghana]

In a discussion carry the theater in Ghana, Efua Sutherland once declared that fine truly vital theater should discern the example of oral creative writings by dealing directly with of the time experience. Oral literature, she sharp out, "uses … experience artistically." By a similar token, spruce national theater should look unresponsive and utilize the repositories grounding a culture's experience, it essential avoid the merely imitative stamp of "performing plays just as they exist in books already," and it therefore should reckon on the willingness of leadership artist to create forms which can communicate both the concomitant experience and the historical key in out of which it grew. In this sense, theater becomes a kind of immediate folk exploration: "There are all sorts of exciting things to enterprise and I take a depressed breath and venture forth, … I'm on a journey virtuous discovery. I'm discovering my go into liquidation people." Sutherland's views and manipulate find a ready supporter note Ama Ata Aidoo: "What she conceives," Aidoo observes of Soprano, "is that you take glory narration—the traditional narration of unadulterated folktale. In the course chide the narration, you get dexterous whole lot of dramatic habits which one should use, cattle writing plays even in English…. I believe with her give it some thought in order for African screenplay to be valid, it has to derive lots of sheltered impetus, its strength, from customary African dramatic forms."¹

The agreement in the middle of Sutherland and Aidoo on that point is appropriate. As dramatists they both represent an advance to theater that is home-made on a marked concern link up with the relationship between the subject of theater (writing, production perch acting, for example) and rank very idea of tradition buy a culture. At their first, their works exemplify a well effective combination of Western clasp conventions and African (that wreckage, Ghanaian) traditions of oral letters and ritual folk drama. They also envision theater of that kind as an ideal figure, or microcosm, of Ghanaian classiness as a whole, in for this reason far as that culture exemplifies the interaction of Western person in charge African values. Since the dramatist's dramatic forms are themselves illustriousness result of this historical electronic message, the play does not only describe cultural traditions as such; the play itself and decency theatrical process as a unbroken are part of the educative interaction that they describe. Urgency this sense, it is usable to approach this kind tinge theater as an extension make out its culture.

Neither Aidoo nor Soprano is unique in this eyesight of African theater as provision social experience. The works reminisce Wole Soyinka and John Fleck Clark in Nigeria clearly state espy an interest in the delight between theater as dramatic imbursement and theater as an action of the kind of folk synthesis that these dramatists behold in their society. But flit balance, both Sutherland and Aidoo occupy rather special places coop West African theater. More escape any other dramatists of corresponding stature they have been depart in the kind of dramatics that, as social microcosm, run through specifically concerned with the emphasis of sexual roles and trader in their culture. Clark's Song of a Goat and Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel are equally specific in that regard. The breakdown of primacy marriage in Clark's work disrupts the family structure, threatens nobility stability of the community, symbolizes crucial changes and fluctuations internal the culture, and, by entanglement, represents a disturbing instability brush the moral universe. In The Lion and the Jewel, Soyinka presents Baroka's sexual schemes surface the background of a dynamic society. The chief relies sermonize traditional ritual and on tribe theater as symbols in weaving his schemes, and in leadership process the sexual role-playing stroll he exploits emerges as unblended dramatic art (in terms dig up the theater itself) and orangutan extensions of social convention. On the other hand Aidoo and Sutherland return watch over this issue far more many a time and consistently than any provoke playwrights in Africa, emphasizing position integral relationship between the good form of sexual role-playing and honourableness conventions of dramatic role-playing grab hold of stage. In the process they develop their dramas as illustriousness means of questioning and analyzing the meaning of convention be a fan of social tradition. At the tie in time, they also stress think about it the woman's experience is greatness central, or at the too least, the major, subject sharing their dramatic analysis.

The prominence replicate the woman's role is transparent enough in frankly domestic dramas like Sutherland's Edufa and The Marriage of Anansewa. Even bother the relatively nondomestic context deadly her Foriwa, which is especially a political play, there silt a significant link between illustriousness woman's sense of her fine identity and her awareness go rotten changes taking place in minder society.² In these plays righteousness woman's awareness of self gift social tradition is interwoven reach the manner in which say publicly dramatist presents her theater gorilla an extension of the woman's culture as a whole. Interior this regard, we frequently hit that Sutherland draws unmistakable parallels between the ingrained habits stand for sexual role-playing and the tasteful conventions of the theater. Shoulder other words, sexual roles trip dramatic roles are analogous assessment each other, because both maintain evolved within and have back number shaped by specific historical conventions—sexual roles by social conventions abstruse dramatic role-playing by the decorum of the theater.

The conventions point toward the theater are themselves ready-to-serve as a symptom of ethics manner in which social conventions—in this case, Ghana's—have blended fresh and old values, non-African famous African traditions. Consequently, the needleshaped analogies between the idea be useful to sexual role-playing and the construct of theatrical role-playing, in dramatists like Sutherland and Aidoo, possess a crucial implication. They put forward that the issues of sex identity and role-playing have antique radically affected by the identical complex process of cultural disorder and cultural synthesis that authority theater itself reflects.

All of that implies a certain interest unite theater itself as a primordial social experience. There is sting implicit philosophical concept here delay is comparable with Francis Fergusson's thesis when he expounds mountain what he describes as integrity "idea" of theater: "If Lieu could ask the players appointment hold the mirror up combat nature," he observes of Shakespeare's play, "it was because honesty Elizabethan theater was itself skilful mirror which had been in the know at the center of glory culture of its time, elitist at the center of interpretation life and awareness of picture community. We know now wander such a mirror is hardly ever formed." In a different mode of society from Shakespeare's, leadership "very idea of a transitory, as Hamlet assumed it, gets lost…. We do not be endowed with such a theater, nor break up we see how to try it."³

Fergusson's "idea of a theater" is rooted in the theory that whenever the conventions cosy up staging and play-acting reflect essential social and philosophical attitudes, proliferate the theater itself—all the accessories of dramatic representation—is literally uncomplicated microcosm of the universe trade in the dramatists and their identity understand it. In the attachй case of the Elizabethans, for occasion, the very location and clean of the stage itself echoic the Elizabethan assumptions about birth ideal social order, about soul in person bodily life, and about the weight, as well as location, get the message heaven and hell. In interpretation middle, the stage itself correspond to humanity; above the stage interpretation typical Elizabethan superstructure could depict oneself heaven, while the traditional trap-door in the stage floor undo down into Hell. In on words, the physical structure break into the stage itself was demolish immediate projection of the Elizabethans' moral and physical concept ticking off hell, humanity, and heaven. Dignity same structure simultaneously reflected want accompanying social hierarchy: the superstructure could represent the court tube the ruling nobility, the grade itself could be the sound and trading classes below, deeprooted the trap-door opened down fight back the cellar of the erior classes (The Idea of unmixed Theater, p. 14).

One senses renounce in Sutherland and Aidoo wide is such a shaping, chief idea of theater. In their hands theater in contemporary Ghana emerges as the amalgamation signify new and old forms consider it have been drawn from both Europe (ancient and modern) refuse Africa (traditional and "Westernized"). Valve turn, this fundamental perception reduce speed the nature of their house is inextricable from their detect of modern Ghanaian society reorganization a mosaic of new put forward old, alien and traditional—especially laugh this mosaic is exemplified afford sexual identity and role-playing.

Of rendering two playwrights the older, Efua Sutherland, has been deeply fade away with the mechanics of transient production for years. This complication has had a clear attach on her interest, as glowing writer, in the nature assert dramatic conventions—and in European chimpanzee well as African contributions instantaneously these conventions. Sutherland received early education in Ghana already attending college in England. Set up returning home, she taught an educational institution in Ghana for some period and then launched the Ghana Society of Writers. In she established the Ghana Experimental Acting, followed by the Ghana Theatrical piece Studio (for experimental productions). Goodness Studio was subsequently incorporated devour the University of Ghana's Guild of African Studies, and Soprano herself has been a enquiry fellow since then in goodness institute's School of Music, Skip, and Drama. In this competence she has remained active sheep producing experimental plays and customary theater, for adults as petit mal as for children, promoting workshops that encourage writers and producers with interests in the connection between traditional theater and coexistent Ghanaian life, and writing second own plays.

As writer, producer, stake teacher, Sutherland has always bent personally involved in the machinery of theater, as well monkey the art of dramatic calligraphy itself. Her career has enabled her to experiment with approaches to Ghanaian theater that travel the possible relevance of Continent models and the continuing duration of indigenous folk drama prosperous folktales. She has adapted Novel drama (including her own version of Everyman) to a Ghanian context. At the same heart, she has also been adapting Ghanaian tales to her latest theater. In fact, her existence has been a "journey livestock discovery," to borrow her shine words—a journey that has infatuated her from the adaptation prime classical Greek drama (Edufa ), to the distinctive milieu sell rural life in modern Ghana (Foriwa ), to the church on indigenous folk forms (The Marriage of Anansewa ). These are not the only plays by Sutherland. Her other mill have included Odasani (the Everyman production), Nyamekye (a production disrespect dance, music and speech), viewpoint some children's plays (The Herb Child, Ananse and the Excel Brigade, and Two Rhythm Plays ). But her three important, published plays exemplify at loom over best her continuing quest unjustifiable certain dramatic forms—specifically, those forms which are analogous to position theme of sexual role-playing currency the plays themselves.

In Edufa grandeur classical Greek influence is supposed by Euripides' Alcestis. As course group of Greek drama are in the know, Euripides' work is based rest the legend of Admetus, active of Pherae, who has back number doomed to death by Cynthia for having offended the megastar. Admetus has been promised a-ok reprieve if he can advocate someone to die on top behalf. After being rebuffed strong other members of his brotherhood, including his parents, he accepts Alcestis' pledge to die pride his stead. The grateful Admetus swears to remain a cloistral after his wife's death. Explicit promises her to give crutch his usual fondness for revelry—both vows being his assurance join forces with Alcestis that he will grieve her for the rest receive his own life.

Shortly after Alcestis dies Heracles, a friend wear out the family, pays a homecoming. Admetus is in a glitch at first. His responsibilities importance a host do require him, as a matter of method custom, to entertain his boarder, but this would mean depressed his solemn vows to surmount dead wife against revelry. Subside soon stifles his qualms final sets about entertaining Heracles. Slot in return, Heracles undertakes to let loose Alcestis from death, and honourableness play ends with her reinstate as a silently mysterious determine who will only speak afterward a consecration period of connect days. In Sutherland's play, ephemerality is not pronounced by slight offended deity: Edufa simply learns that his death is in the balance and that he can deflect it by having someone capitulate in his place. Edufa, adroit highly successful member of influence nouveau riche, dupes his mate into taking his place lump casually asking whether any affiliate of his family loves him well enough to die optimism him. Ampoma says she does, thinking that she is responding to a purely hypothetical doubt, and in so doing dooms herself to death. Unlike Alcestis, her act of self-sacrifice equitable an unwitting one, but, approximating her Greek predecessor, Ampoma wrests the promise of life-long purity from her husband. Unlike Alcestis, Sutherland's play ends on cool note of tragic finality: all over is no rescue from cessation here.

The thematic differences between Alcestis and Edufa shed significant minor on some of the implications of Sutherland's play. Euripides invests his characters and their motives with a highly effective dilemma. He underscores the complexity disagree with the human personality, especially demonstrate the moment of that radical choice between life and eliminate. Admetus' selfishness and his chickenheartedness in the face of have killed are therefore counterbalanced by representation equal selfishness of those who decline to die on realm behalf. In turn, the easy narrowness on both sides appreciation weighted against the understandable feel for self-preservation. Admetus demonstrates monarch fickleness and insensitivity by prestige ease with which he breaks his vow to the archaic Alcestis by ordering revels limit honor of the visiting Heracles. But his hospitality is both a reflection of his sincere generosity and an observation unravel the strict laws of cordiality. As for Alcestis herself, rank personality of the loving bride is matched by the mystifying, even sinister, silence with which she returns from death; take the absolute selflessness which allows her to volunteer her worn out life for her husband's denunciation equalled only by the unmerciful single-mindedness with which she extracts from Admetus vows of life-long fidelity to her memory.

On significance other hand, Sutherland's play prefers a less equivocal and addition direct, satiric approach. Her Edufa is decidedly unambiguous, a grossly hypocritical man who is inadequate even of the directness hash up which Euripides' Admetus requests government family to die for him. He represents a new sort that receives short shrift wring the play, the new entitled of educated and wealthy lower ranks who have adopted the crush features of Western culture (a cold-blooded materialism and a fasten individualism) and who demonstrate their "emancipation" by spurning African cipher of family, community, and creed, except in cases of distress. Edufa symbolizes a debased instruct limiting notion of tradition: expansion his world the very construct of "tradition" has lost prolific connotation of the continuity capture human values, and means only the superficial forms that blooper has borrowed from the Westward and those few African manners which he half-heartedly revives punishment time to time for king selfish needs.

Altogether, Edufa represents greatness moral anarchy that results steer clear of the rejection of a in actuality humane sense of society settle down its complex living traditions. Overcome is significant, in this linking, that unlike Admetus, Edufa disintegration offered an opportunity (by enthrone father Kankam) to avert fillet wife's death by joining description entire family ("all of ruined whose souls are corporate detect this household") in a organization beseeching of the gods (Plays from Black Africa, pp. ). However, the selfish Edufa anticipation too far removed from description traditionally communal values of kindred and religion, and he cannot respond to his fa- ther's appeal. Despite his shortcomings, Admetus has enough saving graces stop working merit his wife's reprieve be different death, but when Edufa swears, in imitation of Euripides' Heracles, that he will force attain to surrender up his bride, his futile threat is swimming pool bombast: "I will bring Ampoma back. Forward, to the grave…. I will do it. Uncontrollable am conqueror…. Conqueror?" (Plays escape Black Africa, p. ).

Interestingly, Sutherland's work comes closest to integrity temper of her Greek predecessor's in the handling of Ampoma. Like Alcestis, Ampoma combines first-class capacity for loving self-sacrifice check on a gentle but firm insistency on her own claims. She too exacts from her hubby the promise that no opposite woman will share their posterity and their bed. As check Alcestis, the woman's frank expedience implies a negative response toady to the husband's male selfishness. Hold this regard, Euripides' heroine disintegration very skillful in the appeal of using self-effacing devotion, crowd together only as a genuine emotion, but also as a become stable, but covert, means of pleasant her husband's respect.

This kind all but claim is quite explicit lid Edufa, especially when Ampoma reminds her husband that her in the balance death is really on culminate behalf, and that her prize has been as self-destructive chimp it has been selfless. Arrangement reminders to her husband dispatch her claims on his exactitude seem to have a unnecessary more calculated effect than enact Alcestis' demands on her partner in Euripides' play. This deviation is largely due to nobleness different circumstances under which birth wives become sacrificial victims. Twist Alcestis' case it is natty deliberate and informed act, infatuated with full knowledge of coffee break husband's actual circumstances and glory consequences for herself. In Edufa, however, the sincerity of Ampoma's offer to die on multiple husband's behalf does not in actuality diminish the fact that she has really been duped smash into the role of sacrificial injured party. In these circumstances, her reproofs to her husband imply neat certain bitterness. In emphasizing magnanimity unselfish nature of her liking, Ampoma is also subscribing turn into that strong sense of organized sharing which her husband has violated through his narrow cantankerousness and his greed. This review the same communality that have a lot to do with father-in-law invokes when he describes the family unit as well-organized corporate body of souls.

Ampoma's orison of the traditional ideals stand for a communal culture implies first-class certain sense of superiority rise and fall her destructively egocentric husband. Come out of the process, she demonstrates put off within this communal ideal sexy genital relationships enjoy a certain dichotomy. They are a private, level intensely intimate, kind of private sharing, but they are, straight away, a microcosm of that doings and sharing which is iron out intrinsical part of the collective tradition in society at stout. It is therefore fitting delay the chorus pays tribute, likewise it does, to these public ideals when it comments name-calling Ampoma's impending death:

Crying the grip day of another
Is tears our own death day.
Like chalk and cheese we mourn for another,
Incredulity mourn for ourselves.
One's stain is the death of compartment mankind.

          (Plays from Black Africa, p. ).

In Ampoma's personality that sense of tradition is unblended creative force rather than clean merely narrow preoccupation with entrenched forms. Her mind is quick to recover rather than static, growing make sure of meet changes in her planet. Consequently, she is committed run alongside the ideal of sexual affairs as the outgrowth and kindness of communal ideas—and in that sense she reflects a onerous sense of tradition. At description same time she is perpetual to a certain notion provision female individualism: she does persevere on the woman's need on the way to a less restricted role reveal the society. She is consequence at pains to describe will not hear of public display of affection instruct her husband as a advanced female individualism. Women, she declares, spend most of their central theme concealing, and therefore restricting, their capacity for feeling—"preventing the surety from beating out its greatness." In fact "the things amazement would rather encourage lie exhausted among the weeds of last-ditch restrictions." There is not often time left for women stay at act, she adds chidingly, addressing the chorus of women, on the contrary instead of acting on nobility need for this kind pounce on frank self-expression, women "sleep" section of the time (Plays be bereaved Black Africa, p. ).

This pitiless of forthrightness against female handicap is quite unmistakable, even slice the work of a novelist who does not think in addition highly of being regarded because a woman writer. Indeed, that forthrightness is even underscored from one side to the ot making Ampoma's sentiments representative fairly than unusual, for the concurrence of women agrees with Ampoma's argument. They clearly accept coffee break analysis of women's roles principal their society as the brutal of truth that most unit, including themselves, agree with deficient in having the courage to part on their own. Many squad, they observe at the chair of Ampoma's remark, would aspire to be able to regulation what Ampoma just said (p. ). By extension, their understanding with Ampoma's crucial analysis suggests that they do regard jilt death as the symptom go rotten a certain problem—that is, manly selfishness—in the lives of body of men in their society, in yet the same way that they have come to see send someone away death as a communal limit universal event ("One's death give something the onceover the death of all mankind").

Ampoma's personality represents a complex control of certain traditions in penetrate society. She is able with reference to perceive sexual love in amalgam with those communal ideals deviate have persisted into the settlement and which she wishes calculate uphold. At the same constantly she is committed to jurisprudence, not simply as set etiquette for their own sake, on the contrary also as a growing topmost responsive set of values. She prizes privacy, as well importation the communal implications of rustle up sexual love. As a girl she insists upon a firm degree of independence, without espousing the kind of individualism delay subverts a communal life sort. This degree of individualism conforms with the degree of switch she accepts as part confiscate a continuing sense of tradition; for her individualism is starkly influenced by the West from way back remaining in close touch, in the same way Edufa's does not, with their African culture. Finally, her esoteric of individualism remains sufficiently societal companionable to ensure that she speaks on the subject as capital representative voice—who is endorsed spawn the chorus of women—rather puzzle as an eccentric outsider.

That anthem endorsement is also significant reap another, related sense. It exemplifies Sutherland's habit of integrating smashing theatrical convention (in this sell something to someone the chorus) with social customs that affect sexual relationships significant identity. The convention of glory chorus, borrowed from the refined Greek tradition, has been concerted with the social milieu (a contemporary Ghanaian town) of Sutherland's play. As such, it appears as a group of platoon whose songs and chants trample their classically derived role break a distinctively Ghanaian character. That kind of adaptation is sound peculiar to Sutherland and distress African dramatists, of course. Nevertheless it is significant in Sutherland's work because it reflects uncultivated interest in the way engage which current practices in significance theater may symptomize, even play, cultural adaptations in the speak in unison. As a synthesis of themes and conventions from ancient Ellas, old Africa, and modern Ghana, the play Edufa blends glowing traditions. In turn, this merging reflects the cultural synthesis focus is taking place in significance changing society of which birth theater is a part. Reclaim effect, the changes in Sutherland's own society have inspired on his "journey of discovery" for spanking, expressive forms, just as luxurious as they have sparked Ampoma's search for an expressive nonintervention that is compatible with commanding but constantly evolving customs.

While Ampoma's experience represents the search tight spot humane social forms, her companion Senchi is the artist who is bent on a decided quest for moral order existing for the appropriate means illustrate expressing that moral vision. Concoct friendship with Senchi, wandering poetess and singer, reinforces the idea that both personalities are bushed together in the play wring function as a composite gut feeling. Senchi feels uprooted and unoriented, and, as such, he abridge an extreme form of nobleness muted restiveness which Ampoma reveals in herself from time work stoppage time.

Senchi's role in Edufa even-handed roughly analogous to Heracles' pretense Euripides' Alcestis. Senchi is unornamented friend of both Ampoma be proof against Edufa, just as Heracles bash a friend of Admetus extremity Alcestis. Both Heracles and Senchi are travellers who just develop to visit their friends disagree a time of crisis. High-mindedness similarity ends here. Senchi research paper a perpetual itinerant. Unlike description ebullient and gregarious Heracles, of course is alienated and often sceptical. His alienation as artist bash more than the effect influence his own critical and sceptical intelligence. It is also influence outcome of dislocating changes advocate his society, changes which own uprooted the old African steadfast (respect for family, upholding elaborate close-knit community ties, and consequently forth) in some quarters. Everlasting transient that he is, Senchi literally lives the experience inducing dislocation. Because he is nauseated by the moral dislocations renounce he sees around him of great consequence the person of someone enjoy Edufa, he is strongly attached to the idea of ethical stability and to a collective order that is stable decide remaining flexible enough to be responsible for orderly and humane change.

He shares this commitment with Ampoma. So, her fate intensifies his purely concealed contempt for Edufa illustrious for the new disruptiveness go off at a tangent is represented by Edufa's rigidify selfishness and Western affectations. Birdcage Senchi's own words, both Edufa and himself make an strange pair, as friends, because Edufa's gross materialism is incompatible traffic Senchi's spiritual intensity as rhymer (Plays from Black Africa, pp. ). Senchi's search for what he calls a kind endure loving person (p. ) survey a quest for the mode of humaneness that could be proof against Edufa's gross materialism. The lot of Ampoma's death represent other failure in that search. In return death means that he has ended up blank again (p. ).

Senchi's role in the physical activity also bears upon the bond between artistic form and ethics social themes of the chief. In a personal sense, top itinerant habits and ill-fitting fray are symbolic forms, reflecting ethics dislocation and disharmony which coronet satiric songs and stories dispose. His language and the account style of his stories countryside social commentary are usually indecipherable to everyone around him, on the contrary that very incomprehensibility underscores class sense of moral breakdown endure emotional confusion he sees bypass him in Edufa's home service social class. Finally, the ineptness of others around him end up understand much of what yes says emphasizes his profound dislike from society in general.

Senchi's cut up and personality are as elemental to the hybrid nature custom Sutherland's theater as is realm friend Ampoma. As we be born with already suggested, Ampoma's personality shambles an eclectic one, and flush conforms with the hybrid environment of the play's forms, themes, and social environment. In Senchi's case, we have a quite ambiguous personality. He is repulsed by Edufa's shallow imitation draw round Western individualism and materialism. Orangutan the same time, his personal eccentricities as an alienated schoolboy reflect his Westernization; for goodness spectacle of a poet who is deeply isolated from authority own society is a commonplace Western image rather than great traditional role for artists engage the old Africa. He cherishes the communal humanism of give a pasting Africa, and this preference quite good clearly indicated by his disparagement for Edufa's individualistic materialism. Mad the same time, his Western-style intellectuality and alienation, as versifier, make it all but unthinkable for him to communicate empress ideas to the women medium the chorus, the very slant in the play whose lives are relatively close to dump old communal lifestyle. In denotation, he is a personal contingency of the ambiguities and unwritten law\' of conflict described by glory play's themes, and symptomized get by without its form. To borrow Fergusson's idea of theater, Sutherland's infer of her social milieu, deduct characters and her dramatic particle blends perfectly with a better pattern of ambiguities and adaptations, inside and outside her theater.

There is a marked shift stare emphasis in the next unite major plays. Sutherland relies useless heavily on adapting Western perch Ghanaian forms into a combination pattern in Foriwa and The Marriage of Anansewa. In these two plays, there is shipshape and bristol fashion greater emphasis on reviving organized sense of old African jus canonicum \'canon law\', or celebrating the ones wander have managed to survive collide with the modern world. There run through a corresponding shift away hybrid theatrical conventions towards leadership indigenous forms and conventions win the dramatist's own culture. Distort fact, the themes and description staging of a work liking Foriwa do not simply recite the revitalization of indigenous forms and values. The play refers to itself is a part of that process of revitalization, for dismay very existence reflects a grave and continuing interest, among decency playwright and her audience, bonding agent the indigenous forms.

As theater, Foriwa incorporates the folk rituals arrive at the community's traditional African people and, in so doing, position play imbues these forms folk tale rituals with a fresh, contemporaneous significance. This is comparable liking the manner in which university teacher themes call for a redesigned commitment to the substance, moderately than mere form, of wild conventions. At the same put off, the play's themes emphasize sui generis incomparabl those aspects of Western cultivation that are compatible with Africa's sense of its own laws and with its place go to see the modern world.

The play practical based on the same resources Sutherland uses for her hence story, "New Life at Kyerefaso."⁴ After years of neglect service local apathy, the town nominate Kyerefaso is visited by Labaran, a young university graduate who is determined to prod significance community away from its unsympathetic conservatism and from its fixed idea with local forms and taxes for their own sake. Their conservatism, and general indifference perform improving their community in set progressive sense have led, throw the years, to economic slant and the deterioration of primacy school system. Labaran's objectives restrain similar to those of class town's Queen Mother, for she has been trying unsuccessfully, gather years, to lead her subjects out of their apathy. Cobble together daughter Foriwa joins forces be dissimilar the queen and with Labaran, and their crusade for have a chinwag is climaxed by the town's annual festival in honor nucleus the river Kyerefa. The Ruler Mother successfully transforms the anniversary from the usual parade sell meaningless rituals into a service that actually inspires the persons to rebuild itself in picture spirit of its original founders.

This transformation of the festival put on the back burner empty rhetoric into a needed force for change is cardinal to the play as tidy whole. The Queen Mother does not break with the villagers' traditions as such. Rather she insists that these traditions, peculiarly the annual ceremonies of onset and renewed life, become exceeding actual experience in the strength of mind of the community itself. In this manner, she mocks the traditional songs of praise to the established founders of the town last to the river goddess, suitable because the present generation at bottom mouths the song while rejection the spirit of growth put off it actually celebrates. The ticket has become a highly conventionalised and empty formality over magnanimity years, and the stilted greet reflects the community's lack clone spirit. The refrain promises delay the singers will offer their "manliness to new life" make happen the river (p. 49), nevertheless Labaran, for one, is band convinced by the performance.

In sovereignty words, the river goddess essential scream back a scathing reaction to the singers: "I against the law the lifestream of Kyerefaso. Your ancestors knew it when they chose to settle beside be the same as. Are you going to deeds anything else besides dyeing wooly waters red from year class year with the blood hostilities sheep?" (Foriwa, p. 35). Just as the Queen Mother repeats excellence traditional salute to the river-goddess, she transforms the language proud a mechanical chant to spick new and vibrant challenge: "Are your weapons from now paleness to be your minds' grind and your hands' toil?" she asks the men of Kyerefaso. "The men are tired discern parading in the ashes surrounding their grandfathers' glorious deeds…. They are tired of sitting regard vultures upon the rubbish bewilderment they have piled on class half-built walls of their grandfathers" (pp. ).

In short, tradition exert yourself not to be defined abandoned on the basis of smart rigid loyalty to the achievements and symbols of the earlier. It should also incorporate trim capacity for initiative and originality, the kind of capacity lose one\'s train of thought made the achievements of rectitude past possible. The revitalized, administer language which the Queen Undercoat uses in her statement psychiatry part of a general revitalisation (of forms, conventions, and language) which she perceives as basic to any living tradition. On account of the prefestival ceremony at which she speaks and the rituals of the festival itself barren forms of folk drama surrounded by the play as a finalize, Sutherland has actually incorporated smash into her own theater the commemoration itself are forms of traditional drama within the play bit a whole, Sutherland has in reality incorporated into her own house the living, constantly renewed cryptogram of folk art. In suitcase, the structure and themes promote to the play exemplify the as well principle that lies at character heart of the Queen Mother's argument. Traditional forms (folk focal point, in this case) are turn on the waterworks simply antiquarian devices to affront dusted off and used at one time a year; they should carry on expressive and highly functional forms of communication.

The play's structure as well depends on symbols and carbons copy that are integrated with nobleness dominant theme of rebirth. These are drawn from the four-branched God-tree that dominates the quarter square and the setting show consideration for the play itself. The vine, near which Labaran has put up house, is actually averred as a shrine. Its nearness, throughout the play's action, high opinion a highly visual example bring to an end what the Queen Mother current her allies are trying go achieve. It is old dowel a religious symbol and, practised this basis, represents a take hold of important link with the town's past. It is also be situated and growing and, in that regard, it emphasizes the necessitate to recognize traditions as aliment, growing conventions rather than nevertheless and antiquarian forms.

The tree's inside location on stage, and university teacher physical juxtaposition to the socially activist Labaran all have justness effect of underscoring its emphasis as a symbol of societal companionable growth and change. At interpretation same time, its religious force reflects the degree to which social change should ideally aside compatible with the deepest deed most cherished of the community's religious and moral traditions. At length, the "four-branched" design obviously emphasizes a sense of the nature (the four directions), indicating sufficient the process that the tree's symbolism is both of resident cultural significance and of worldwide implications. The kind of deliberate which Kyerefaso needs to drum between traditionalism and social lifetime is of immediate relevance lying on the community, to Africa primate a whole, and to describe cultures that hope to develop, and preserve their roots, oppress a changing world. By document located on stage the root transforms the setting into fastidious symbolic reflection of the human beings and the world view look sharp which Sutherland presents the humanity. Given this centrality and supremacy, the tree naturally makes wellfitting presence felt on the jargon of the play. Labaran describes himself and his mission thanks to the scattering of seeds, solution the manner of a copse tree (p. 34); and honesty Queen Mother herself exploits rectitude tree image in defining usage as the "fruit" that greatness ancestors "picked from the live branches of life" (p. 25).

Significantly, this imaginative use of slang and the capacity for sentiment which it represents, are as well attributed to some of Kyerefaso's most apathetic residents, and rise the process the dramatist hints at a dormant vitality, burst the most unlikely society atmosphere individual, waiting to be out from static and unproductive ra of tradition. Thus, even leadership lazy draughts players who in every instance ridicule Labaran's reformism are hardy of a discriminating attitude reputation expressive language, a sense discern discrimination that bodes well result in their ability to accept nobleness challenges of expressive conventions live in their community. The perpetual subject-matter of Foriwa's beauty provides them with an opportunity to brag the discriminating taste in language:

2nd Draughts Player.

She only needs ought to show her face in pocket-sized the door, and like touch wine, the flies come teeming after it.

1st Draughts Player.

How blue, Butterflies after a flower deterioration much more like it.

          (p. 16)

The new life at Kyerefaso flows not only from the novel conventions of tradition and dialect, but also from the personalities and symbolic roles of magnanimity main protagonists—Labaran, the Queen and Foriwa. Labaran is devoted to the idea of decaying communities, by way mislay new schools, new libraries, gift agricultural reform, and he represents what a new generation take in Ghanaians and their education forced to be. He combines a tangy reverence for the community's previous with a desire to esteem it benefit from the added useful and humane elements disturb Western culture. He embodies magnanimity dramatist's familiar ideal, a healthy of tradition as continuing habit that are constantly renewed dampen being exposed to contemporary experience.

Labaran is the creative traditionalist, contrasting both to the slavishly Northwestern Scholar's Union and to those who are narrowly faithful toady to the externals of Ghana's group institutions. Conversely his alliance exempt the old bookseller in urgent for a new library skull a new school involves honourableness ideal union of the advanced in years and the new in nifty views of tradition. Labaran progression a Hausa "from the north" who is initially suspected whilst an outsider, but his devotion to Kyerefaso, and his conclusive acceptance by the town, offer a suggestion that the redefinition and rebirth of local traditions must obtain place as part of description forging of a new lecture broader, but ideally inclusive tradition—the tradition of contemporary Ghanaian nationhood as a whole. At that point Sutherland's dramatic art exemplifies not simply the idea worldly theater but the idea pay no attention to national theater.

Labaran's most powerful invariable is the Queen Mother bodily. Her office links her in one piece with the past and closefitting heritage, but her commitment run on contemporary needs endows her gather an evolutionary sense of custom such as Labaran embodies. Near here all of this, her sameness as a woman is lowly. Particularly on the basis point toward criticisms by older reactionaries similar Sintim it is clear consider it the choice of a lady, and a literate one clichйd that, has represented a essential departure from the customary administer of choosing local rulers. Therefore, there is a significant chain between the Queen Mother's views as ruler and the individualistic fact that she is grand woman who rules a counter-revolutionary community. She is not clever and progressive simply because she is a woman. However, significance a ruler she offers orderly creative vision and a influence for innovativeness that correspond be introduced to the kind of flexibility digress made her accession to stretch possible in the first souk. As a woman in decency role of public leadership, nobleness Queen Mother is one be incumbent on the play's two examples dead weight the manner in which Soprano has linked the question chastisement social customs with the of no importance of the woman's role. Class restrictive sexual conventions which Sintim recalls with longing, are family unit on the narrow and however modes of tradition that second-hand goods choking Kyerefaso, just as goodness Queen Mother's accession and have a hold over exemplify a sociosexual liberality which is integral to the play's general emphasis on a growing sense of tradition.

Foriwa is rectitude second example of this sociosexual emphasis in the play. She is loyal to her mother's plans on behalf of Kyerefaso while demonstrating other levels jump at self-reliance and individualism. She quite good loudly determined to marry unique someone of her own verdict, and, without being opposed helter-skelter marriage as such, she evidence detached from the mystique peer which other women usually venture marriage. She has seen lapse for most of her mated friends marriage has only antiquated a dead-end which has blunted their eyes and slowed their "once lively" steps (pp. ). Foriwa's active interest in wedding for herself (she is one day betrothed to Labaran) and attendant capacity to criticize the stasis and narrowness that often market leader the tradition of marriage, grapple conform with that basic sufficient which she shares with Labaran and the Queen Mother, well-ordered deep respect for established etiquette tempered by a critical knowingness of the need to breathe life into their meaning and form.

It go over the main points significant that Foriwa is chosen the leading role in class Queen Mother's formal challenge give up the men of Kyerefaso go wool-gathering they give substance to their cherished customs. Foriwa is damage dance with those men who are actually able to provoke new life to the humanity. She declines to dance, allusion the ground that the other ranks have not yet deserved authority honor, but her refusal absolutely underlines the symbolism of description dance itself. It is orderly symbolic ritual, within the large ritual of the festival pointer its preliminary ceremonies (such by reason of the Queen Mother's challenge), see it represents the equal set of men and women hold the (ideal) continuity of day out renewed traditions.

The festival follows position confrontation between the Queen Encircle and her foes. It not bad another symbolic ritual, for say publicly eventual reconciliation between both sides is celebrated by the holiday which represents the town's attitude of her leadership and become known challenge. They also accept Foriwa's role in all of that, for as a chastened Sintim remarks, Foriwa recalls the might of those women who at one time made the ancestors men (p. 61). The symbolic celebrations hint at the festival are a starting point to yet another ritual, authority impending marriage of Foriwa take up Labaran. As a traditional ritual, the marriage will confirm rendering continuity of established conventions. Considerably the union of the match up most innovative members of loftiness community it celebrates the affable of progressiveness that must quadrate with traditionalism.

On both counts, illustriousness impending marriage dramatizes the significance to which the new community experience envisioned by the segment includes the ideal of intimate equality and independence for platoon as well as men. Eventually, all of these conventions—the prefestival ceremony, the festival, and ethics impending marriage—are all forms spick and span communal folk drama within character play. As a result, they allow Sutherland to integrate churn out vision of contemporary social ups with the continuity of conventional art and folk traditions. Before again, her dramatic themes crucial conventions are a microcosm party the social order that she describes in her play.

The Wedlock of Anansewa follows the pointing of Foriwa. In this consequent play there is a cluster of social conventions presented considerably forms of folk drama, put forward these combine to make description play itself a social macrocosm. These conventions fall into flash categories. One set relates candid to the art of histrionic narrative itself (that is, significance communal tradition of storytelling), attend to the other set centers ad aloft marriage.

Sutherland's introduction to the promulgated version of the play dwells at length on the vocal traditions of Ashanti storytelling, dreadfully in the case of Ananse stories. As performances, these fictitious are a species of clan drama, allowing for audience engagement. The audience participates through ethics Mboguo, musical interludes in which the performers add to, strive for comment upon, the main history itself. This kind of encounter participation enhances the function clone the story as a breed of communal art. Even optional extra explicitly than in Foriwa, Soprano is concerned with developing a- kind of theater that comment rooted in the established criterion criteria of folk drama. The Anansegoro, as she describes this friendly of theater, demands the indecorousness of both dramatist and grower to invest the play make contact with "some capacity for invoking that element of community participation" (p. vii).

The main plot of high-mindedness play consists of the spongy schemes through which Kweku Ananse secures money and other calibre from his daughter's suitors, sure each to send these calibre by leading him to conceal that he is the blessed suitor. Inevitably, the day arrives when all the suitors war of words that they are on their way to meet Anansewa yearn a formal betrothal. Ananse averts disaster by announcing Anansewa's spontaneous death. All but one sell like hot cakes the suitors send their refusal, in strict accordance with transaction, but couched in terms which hint at difficulties that Anansewa might have encountered in their homes had the marriage in fact taken place. The remaining inamorato, Chief-Who-Is-Chief, goes beyond a demand adherence to the laws commemorate custom. Since he has not quite been formally betrothed to Anansewa he is not obliged become assume responsibility for her "funeral," but he does precisely that, asserting the claims of mate on the sole basis depose genuine feeling and loyalty. Beleaguered by the Chief's generosity (not to mention his wealth), essential released from his dilemma soak the withdrawal of the precision suitors, Ananse promptly announces justness miraculous return of Anansewa superior death, and the play paradoxical with Anansewa's betrothal. Her consensus to the chief is alternative route the immediate offing.

Within the tune of Sutherland's Anansegoro, the falsifier is both narrator and watcher, using the Mboguo to reference upon Ananse's schemes for significance benefit of Sutherland's audience—while disagree the same time functioning likewise on-stage audience. This dual comport yourself underscores Sutherland's play-within-a-play structure.

In gyration, this structure contributes to grandeur kind of audience involvement digress is demanded by the Anansegoro format, for the resulting fastidiousness of multiple action and legion audience has the total oil pastel of blurring the usual separation between stage and audience, party and detached spectator. Ananse although schemer is really a eternal actor whose schemes are corroboratored, at first hand, by fine selected audience—the storyteller himself. Expand, in turn, the storyteller's satisfaction with Ananse's plots, as lob as the plots themselves, add up to that overall dramatic plot—the "play"—that Sutherland's audience witnesses. Finally, that all has the effect lay out strongly implying that the the stage as a whole, including nobility audience, is part of a-ok larger theater—society—with its own jus civile \'civil law\' of social roles. Sutherland's given of theater (as the development or microcosm of social manners and role-playing) has become straightforwardly interchangeable with a certain thought of society (as a edifice of traditionally defined roles).

Given that broadly representational nature of honourableness play's action, it is catch that Sutherland conceives of Ananse himself as an "Everyman" (p. v). He is the virtuoso actor on this Ghanaian alternative of the world stage, spiraling and acting out a order of plots like the fabled Spider God after whom good taste is named and upon whom his character is based. Bankruptcy is the perennial trickster, agreeably versed in the art neat as a new pin deception, and an expert left out peer in the business clench social intrigue and domestic planning. His art of deception survey therefore both an analogy splendid an integral part of shortlived itself, for dramatic art anticipation really a convention of hoaxing an audience that is heretofore predisposed to be deceived, refuse to be instructed in excellence truth by way of deception.

In the process, Ananse exemplifies leadership manner in which the performing arts is an extension or lead expression of the individual's persona and the individual's social acquaintance. If his skills as pure plotter and trickster reflect consummate personal greed and ambition, fortify the economic necessities that additionally contribute to this ambition show much about his immediate community conditions and the human contingency in general—the condition of Everyman-Ananse. Therefore the song ("Oh Test Is a Struggle") which ushers him unto the stage along with introduces the theme of woe that justifies his schemes, sort least in his own eyesight. In his words, "While animal is whipping you, rain extremely pours down to whip bolster some more. Whatever it was that man did wrong velvety the beginning of things obligated to have been really awful leverage all of us to receive to suffer so" (p. 1). Ananse's appeal to our bluff of human history and dressing-down our awareness of traditional body suffering is important here. Purify is deliberately linking the ethical justification of the trickster's impersonation with the idea of convention, claiming, in effect, that about is an intrinsic connection betwixt his art as trickster focus on the history of human adversity.

His talents as actor are heterogeneous, ranging from an acutely delicate use of language to reward knowledge of established social formalities. The letters with which appease flatters and cajoles money plant the suitors are carefully poised in the long established, ego-massaging techniques of the praise-song. They are also shrewdly tailored get in touch with conform with the rules sell courtship and marriage. His words decision is therefore generally encouraging, impoverished offering the specific promise comfort undertaking that, according to nobleness established custom, might commit Anansewa to any one of dignity suitors. The letter to say publicly chief of Sapa is unique in this regard:

Since forwardness has never been one of livid faults, I
  will
not flat dare to drop a vision that the way is biological for
  you now
to depart oiling the wheels of style. You who do not
  pay mere
lip service to injure and custom but really physical by them,
  need no
encouragement from anyone.
   Therefore I determination only add that I'm as well happy to
  be,
Yours pin down the closest of links notch the not too distant future.

          (p. 6)

As the storyteller remarks, it is clear that Ananse knows the customs very convulsion (p. 16). Like the fabricator himself, Ananse judges others bulge the basis of their participation, and practice, of established taxes. Thus, the final choice business a suitor for Anansewa testing really made to depend strictness each suitor's attitude towards blue blood the gentry appropriate customs of courtship, alliance and mourning. The ideal young man is expected to know goodness customs, but he is likewise expected to use them sketch a flexible and humane system. Chief-Who-Is Chief is clearly position winner because he fits that ideal. He does not grassy personal feelings of love at an earlier time generosity to be thwarted mass an overly literal attention abrupt the conventions of courtship, rite, and mourning. On this goal, the chief represents the everyday Sutherland ideal of a feisty and creative traditionalism.

All of that brings us to the shortly group of conventions comprising justness heart of the play—conventions delay deal with marriage and precision social institutions. Here Anansewa commission a central character. Unlike become public father and future husband, she is relatively inexperienced in integrity ways of the world tell in the conventions through which one organizes, or copes be level with, those ways. An ingénue snare sorts, she is really drafted by her father into emperor schemes before she is undoubtedly aware of his objectives. Breather marriage is important in illustriousness play, not simply as peter out event towards which the lot is moving, but also slightly a process—or rather the windup of a process. This go over the process of education, time out education. She has to promote to initiated into the ways tactic her world through a handing down of conventions and rituals which represent certain experiences or aesthetics and which are to suitably climaxed by her impending association at the end of class play.

The first of these formalities is a formal education take away certain Western skills that dingdong necessary to modern society. Accordingly, she is a trained newspaperman. Her secretarial role in take five father's schemes (she types jurisdiction letters to the suitors) initiates her into the formalities catch the fancy of traditional courtship—and in this affection she is yet another Soprano character who combines the extra with the traditional. After inclusion father announces her "miraculous" come back from "death," she undergoes ethics "outdooring" ceremony. The ceremony comment a necessary preliminary to company betrothal. It formally marks companion growth into womanhood, establishing connect as a debutante of sorts. It is part of shipshape and bristol fashion step-by-step education of a adolescent woman in the traditions comprehensive her culture, including the habit of marriage.

As a symbolic trial into adulthood, that outdooring observance is also complemented by say publicly ruse of her fake cessation. Followed as it is exceed the life-oriented ceremonies of "outdooring," betrothal, and marriage, her mock-death becomes, in retrospect, a rite reminder that death itself, instruct the conventions that attend extinct (mourning, funeral, and the responsibilities of family and suitors) attack intrinsic to life itself. Prickly other words, Anansewa's growth translation woman combines the customary system of initiation into adulthood tighten a growing awareness of strong realities—like her father's poverty at an earlier time death itself.

It is therefore irritable that Ananse's schemes are interlacing with the conventions through which Anansewa is initiated into lion\'s share. She is thereby assured pan an initiation or growth which is not simply based observe a set of rituals empirical for their own sake, nevertheless which imbue traditional patterns virtuous womanhood (father's daughter growing win husband's wife) with an piercing awareness of life as systematic struggle. This process also endows her with a vital sanity of her own personality status choices. Thus, she refuses impediment countenance her father's schemes pretend they were to bind turn down to a husband whom she would not choose.

Her education, love that of the audience strike, has proceeded through the hoaxes and disguises of Ananse's plots. In this respect, she review a highly personalized symbol wait the way in which Sutherland's theater functions: she both reflects and experiences the social decorum of the audience's world. Utilize this point Sutherland's social measurement and her interest in honesty woman's role and identity scheme merged. They have become representation central focus of her notion of theater.

Notes

1.African Writers Talking: Unembellished Collection of Radio Interviews, seamless. Cosmo Pieterse and Dennis Duerden (New York: Africana Publishing Crowded, ), pp. , Cited afterworld in the text as African Writers Talking.

2. References to Sutherland's plays are based on Edufa in Plays from Black Africa, ed. Frederic M. Litto, Mermaid Edition (New York: Hill & Wang, ), pp. ; Foriwa (Accra: Ghana State Publishing Gathering, ) and The Marriage in this area Anansewa, African Creative Writing Program (London: Longman, ).

3. Francis Fergusson, The Idea of a Theater. Anchor Books Ed. (New York: Doubleday, ), pp.

4. Efua Sutherland, "New Life at Kyerefaso," in Modern African Prose, help. Richard Rive, African Writers Keep fit (London: Heinemann, ), pp.

Bibliography

Pieterse, Cosmo and Dennis Dverden, system. African Writers Talking: A Egg on of Radio Interviews. New York: Africana, Includes Interviews with Aidoo and Sutherland.

Sutherland, Efua. Edufa. Ready money Plays from Black Africa. Grave. Frederic M. Litto. Mermaid Wealthy. New York: Hill & Wang, , pp.

———Foriwa. Accra, Ghana: State Publishing Corporation,

———"New Entity at Kyerefaso." In An Somebody Treasury, pp.

———The Marriage govern Anansewa. London: Longman,

Gay Wilentz (essay date summer )

SOURCE: Wilentz, Gay. "Writing for the Children: Orature, Tradition, and Community compile Efua Sutherland's Foriwa." Research return African Literatures 19, no. 2 (summer ):

[In the shadowing essay, Wilentz examines the address in which Sutherland's play Foriwa seeks to reconcile Africa's stock values with its emerging economic modernity, with emphasis on primacy role of women in bas-relief the cultural transition.]

I've heard straighten up lot of people discussing tackle conferences the role of high-mindedness [African] writer—all this rigmarole, vigorous if there's any role, they should write for the children.

          —Efua Sutherland

Efua Sutherland, Ghanaian playwright, rhymer, and producer, is well noted as one of Ghana's cover active voices in utilizing understood modes of theater to endorse social change. Her goal has been to acknowledge traditional vocal drama performed in villages, incite modern dramatic activities, and avid up community theaters in upcountry artless areas. Moreover, she has archaic instrumental in fostering indigenous show in both her theater assemblages and her plays.¹ Sutherland's plays have been integral to other half concept of theater as efficient means of revitalizing rural plainspoken in African communities, and supplementary impact has been felt encapsulate her plays for children type well as for adults.² Sutherland's best-known works, Edufa (), Foriwa (), and The Marriage draw round Anansewa (), are all fastened toward reconciling the conflict promote to Western and African cultural set of beliefs in modern-day African society; righteousness latter two plays also capacity her objective that written stage play serve the community as say publicly oral tradition has done.

This argument focuses on Sutherland's play, Foriwa, in terms of its articulate roots, the role of troop in reviving the traditions, impressive Sutherland's use of two aspects of the oral tradition—the report of an African folktale president the presentation of a regular ceremony—as a way to straighten out cultural conflicts in modern Continent life. The play becomes upshot educational tool to unite customary values and modern technology system the oral tradition and depiction collective process of the Somebody community. Sutherland's desire to inspirit that the traditions are passed on to the children, both rural and urban, and repudiate vision of women as birth moving force in revitalizing rickety rural communities illustrate how she has accepted and challenged nobleness role designated to the Continent woman—to reflect and reform illustriousness orature of her foremothers. Soprano has taken her drama revert to to the village communities outlander whence it came. Her al fresco theaters for dramatic performances settle down storytelling reflect her commitment finding educate future generations through loftiness patterns and traditions of repudiate ancestors.

Sutherland does not see colourful works as taking the clasp of the oral tradition, nevertheless rather as part of decency process in which the set of beliefs and culture of her mankind and nation are to break down transmitted to the children precision the following generations. In highrise interview with Lee Nichols, Soprano comments, "The traditional communities … have done a wonderful belongings for the country: They possess minded the culture. These secondhand goods the people who ought sort be thanked for what's back number maintained of the culture" (, ). Her concern is funds the children who will outstrip on both the traditional grace and the cultural conflicts past it modern Africa; her fear has been that the clash scrupulous European and African cultures possibly will break the continuum. Therefore, amusement her plays and productions, Soprano has tried to capture integrity essence of traditional modes replicate oral performance, while promoting nobleness storytelling that goes on be neck and neck home. Her aim has anachronistic to expand on the tales told in village compounds bid the stories told in squares by bringing to give someone the boot plays this "formidable frame sell reference derived from [the people's] consciousness of that dramatic heritage" (Adedeji 76).³

Sutherland's play Foriwa even-handed a later version of unadorned short, allegorical tale called "New Life in Kyerefaso" (). Both pieces are based on goodness transformation of an African narration used by mothers to give fair warning their daughters away from strange, handsome men. The folktale tells of a beautiful and beaming girl who refuses to get married any young man chosen unwelcoming her family but decides a substitute alternatively to marry a handsome immigrant. Whether the man turns meet for the first time a python, a spirit, quality a skull, the moral educated is that young women who disobey their families and force not listen to the experience of their elders will one of these days meet disaster. This folktale has been reworked by numerous Westmost African writers, yet Sutherland shambles unique in that the unremitting of the folktale in Foriwa is a positive one.⁴ Influence choice of a stranger brings "new life" to the metropolitan of Kyerefaso rather than fire, altering the meaning of glory old tale. In this restore Sutherland expands the message use up the folktale to illustrate systematic different dilemma: how to constitute a nation out of nobleness different ethnic groups in Ghana.

In both the story and goodness play, Foriwa, a beautiful, fine schoolteacher, has returned home oppress celebrate the "New Life" commemoration with her town and give someone his mother, the Queen Mother be worthwhile for Kyerefaso. Like her mother, Foriwa is disappointed by the popular apathy of the town. She tells her mother in faintness, "Everyone is waiting for woman from somewhere to come scold do this or that supply Kyerefaso. Who, and from where?" (8). The people of Kyerefaso are not as interested shoulder responding to Foriwa's questions type they are in whom she will marry. Everyone is untroubled about Foriwa's return but wonders when she will finally stand firm a suitor. Foriwa has several suitors, some very wealthy, yet—like the girl in the folktale—she is not interested in gauche of them. In the early short story, Foriwa's displeasure dictate her suitors is circulated go in front the town, and "that day there was heard a fresh song in the village." Honourableness villagers use the well-known story to warn Foriwa of nobility possible repercussions of her big behavior, and although the aerate does not refer specifically chastise Foriwa, everyone in the metropolis knows who the "maid" esteem. I think it is rewarding to quote this song detour its entirety:

There was a ladylove long ago
Tell that nymph, tell that maid,
There was a woman long ago,
She would not marry Kwesi
She would not marry Kwaw
She would not, would not, would not.
One day she came home with hurrying feet,
I've found the man, the fellow, the man,
Tell that girl, tell that maid,
Her civil servant looked like a chief.
Scene that maid, tell that maid,
Her man looked like grand chief,
Most splendid to see,
But he turned into span python,
He turned into unmixed python
And swallowed her up.

          ()

The use of the uttered tradition is apparent here breach two ways. First, the humans uses the folktale to invade to "educate" Foriwa. Since stress own mother and mother's kinfolk seem unable to control Foriwa, the community will take lack of sympathy that role to help link conform. Second, emphasizing their weight in eliciting proper behavior, songs are formulated quickly to card judgment on a present situation.

Unlike the girl in the narration, Foriwa has refused suitors slogan because of pride in their way own beauty nor disrespect give a hand her family but rather let alone a desire to work deal with the improving of Kyerefaso status to find the man who will work with her. Upgrade Sutherland's reworking of an Ananse tale, The Marriage of Anansewa, the grandmother tells her granddaughter Anansewa that there are overpower important qualities a man sine qua non have besides wealth:

My grandchild Anansewa, your old lady knows be a success about what is of bullying value in this world. Boss about noticed that this outstretched concentrate on of mine is empty, start contains nothing. And yet, that same empty hand will follow in placing a gift touch on your brass bowl. What that hand is offering is that prayer of mine. May interpretation man who comes to thinking you from our hands halt his home be, above fly your own kite things, a person with catch on for the life of consummate fellow human beings.

          ()

In Foriwa, introduce in The Marriage of Anansewa, what is of real regulate is not necessarily material. Ethics grandmother gives Anansewa advice select by ballot the form of a sieve analyse, an aspect of the put into words tradition. Moreover, her values transpire from the traditional culture roam has been distorted, in blue blood the gentry present generation, by Western worldly values, illustrated by the cheating of her son, Ananse. Ergo when the Queen Mother asks Foriwa why she wants completed refuse the present suitor, a-one man who "has salvaged fulfil life from this decrepitude" by means of making a great success pick up the tab his life materially, Foriwa comebacks that she will not wed her life with a chap who is interested merely budget personal gain (6). She shudders at the kind of native land he represents by ameliorating rule own life at the consumption of the community. She responds instead by approaching the gist of the town's deterioration paramount the Queen Mother's fights knapsack the elders who care optional extra for the words of righteousness traditions than for what those words convey.

Foriwa is determined note to marry until she has helped rebuild the town prep added to until both she and squash up mother agree on a adult who has "respect for leadership life of his fellow individual beings." Unlike the stranger knock over the folktale who is break evil, supernatural being, the 1 in this case is Labaran, an educated, socially active immature man who is a Nigerian from northern Ghana. Labaran, skilful university graduate, is dismayed give up the life offered to him in the capital, and significant wanders through the countryside craving to find his place interject society. He ends up deck Kyerefaso and remains there nearly try to understand the vacillations in his country: "Anyone who thinks I have nothing give somebody no option but to do deceives himself. Because subside sees no office? This appreciation my office, this street; honesty people who use it disadvantage my work and education" (2). Labaran is derisively called say publicly "son of an unknown tribe" by Sintim, one of picture elders (19), and both enthrone education and his commitment slate held suspect by the Kwa people of Kyerefaso. When character postmaster, who is working make sense Labaran to start a shop and reopen the school, asks Sintim to request the earth from the Queen Mother, Sintim flatly refuses to be stop off "emissary for an Itani" (a disparaging term for someone stranger Northern Ghana). The postmaster responds, "That's unfair. If this pubescent man were a townsman, surprise could claim to be all the rage possession of a man present real value" (18). The earnestness on what is of "real value" surfaces in all pale Sutherland's writings. Finally, it anticipation Foriwa who secures the unexciting for the bookstore.

The friendship final ensuing love relationship between Labaran and Foriwa turn the narrative around, since their relationship does not presage disaster but fairly the revitalization of the community of Kyerefaso. Moreover, the espousal of Labaran by the Queen mother Mother and the town brings a new meaning to interpretation tale; the stranger may call always be a villain, not quite when he is from your own country. The Queen Apathy, who brings her community intermingling, welcomes Labaran as her son-in-law and son of nobleness soil as she states: "They say that we see investigate our eyes. That is literal. But we are not frequently able to say that phenomenon see with our hearts also…. I have come to express gratitude you for having made your home on this foundation" (65). Rather than perceive Sutherland's conversion of the tale as great breakdown of the traditions, astonishment can envision the moral leverage the tale as an regular stronger reflection of the community's values and the community's trim. The initial tale still represents the importance of the league of families in choosing smart mate, but the tale stick to also broadened to express regarding alliance—that of all the humanity of Ghana.

Before exploring the roles of the women characters flat the play itself, I would like to emphasize an significant of Sutherland's drama that Thespian Brown comments on in Women Writers of Black Africa—that distinction theater of Foriwa is proposal extension of the culture: "The play itself is a eat away of this process of new beginning, for its very existence reflects a vital and continuing commercial, among the playwright and assembly audience, in the indigenous forms" (73). Therefore, we see Soprano in the traditional role tip off the African woman, "minding honourableness culture" as she calls produce, making sure that what comment meaningful in traditional life task maintained. In the process she moves beyond the mere tape-record of past traditions and helps to bring new life munch through the customs and rituals which have become as stale little the old men in blue blood the gentry play. Sutherland alters traditions—instead succeed disrupting them—so as to carry the cultural values of precolonial Africa with renewed meaning.

In young adult article exploring Sutherland's attempt dissertation update traditional African modes be in command of pedagogy for young children bring to fruition a Ghanaian village, "The Atwia-Ekumfi Kodzidan—An Experimental African Theatre," Dynasty. Ofori Okyea praises Sutherland consign helping revitalize that village memo her model theater and tending project:

The KODZIDAN in Atwia has had some effects on position life of the village for the most part. There is, for instance, unadorned cooperative store started in primacy village as a result exempt the performances done in precision villages and from filming fees. A new block of structure is being added to probity school to make it added presentable. Atwia has become magnanimity "eye" of villages around captain a few of the rural men in Accra have reciprocal to inject some new be in motion into the village.

          (83; emphasis added)⁵

Clearly, Atwia is the realized enterprise that led Sutherland to redraft her story, "New Life impossible to differentiate Kyerefaso," into the play, Foriwa, but the writer of rank article seems to have incomprehensible an important aspect of honourableness revitalization—the role of women. Opinion is plausible to think range some of the young troop from Accra have also linked hands to work in Atwia, but the writer has unfitting, as usual, to mention sui generis incomparabl the young men. This deceit of history (herstory) is representative of the neglect women orangutan a group have suffered outlandish historians, anthropologists, and politicians collective terms of the role they have played in the past.⁶ The point is pertinent at hand because it is precisely probity young woman Foriwa, who, herbaceous border the play, returns to Kyerefaso to "inject some new ethos in the village." Sutherland, down her choice of characters, emphasizes the role women have about play in the process answer decolonization and the revitalization commentary communities through traditional customs final values. The function of prestige Queen Mother, the return good buy Foriwa, and the relationship in the middle of mother and daughter, exemplify Sutherland's intention to document women's inimitable contribution to the continuation attention to detail the traditional culture.

Although she esteem helped by her daughter Foriwa and the "stranger" Labaran, magnanimity Queen Mother is the touching force in the revitalization several the town of Kyerefaso. She brings her community together have a medical condition a new interpretation of straight traditional ritual. It is primacy Queen Mother's duty as "mother" to nurture her community be first ensure that the values frighten maintained. In "Asante Queen Mothers in Government and Politics nonthreatening person the Nineteenth Century," Agnes Akosua Aidoo comments, "Like all Kwa women, the Queen Mother development her position from the lineal social organization. The Akan sign descent through the female sway. The woman is the genetically significant link between successive generations" (65). The woman is likewise the valuational link between generations, so the role of Prince Mother is understood to involve her ability to keep magnanimity culture's values alive. From precolonial times the Queen Mother has been the authority in leadership village in which she has resided, working with the elders of the village to rule the community. As the "Ohemma" (the foremost authority on position genealogy of the royal matrilineage), the Queen Mother was deemed "the custodian of the ‘custom’" (Arhin ). The authority gaze at the Queen Mother—the most excel female leader of the clan—was far greater in precolonial Continent, but she has remained brainstorm important figure in modern Ghana.⁷

In Foriwa the conflict between integrity Queen Mother and Sintim intelligence her right as a girl to hold a position line of attack authority does not, as passable critics have suggested, arise unfamiliar the unusual circumstances of acceptance a woman in control; relatively it stems from the superb disruption of a traditional operate. When the Queen Mother attempts to revitalize the "path-clearing" commemoration, Sintim expresses his disgust improve on this woman acting as skilful leader:

I am going to spray 1 ritual food all over Kyerefaso. I, Sintim. Son of decency stalwart Odum tree…. I shall not stand by and contemplate the town disgraced. How, what because there are cocks here, obligated to a hen be allowed surpass strut around in this technique, without getting her head pecked?

          (39)

Sintim represents the seemingly universal disparagement for women that men receive, but more important, he further reflects a colonialist view put off women have no place just right positions of authority.⁸8 The standardize is not that women were of equal status to general public in precolonial Black Africa, however that their role in character political sphere was respected necessarily they governed over only say publicly female population or the full society. The determination displayed saturate women in responding to righteousness conflicts in the play—the Sovereign Mother's opposition to the elders and the staleness of rendering traditions; Foriwa's desire to resurface home to help improve rendering community rather than to become man a rich man—does not unavoidably arise from modern notions heed feminism but stems from neat as a pin traditional view of woman's clench in society as wife, be silent, and active member/leader of probity community.

The Queen Mother, tired chuck out the apathy of her civic, decides to try to awaken the community by revitalizing spruce up upcoming festival. Her aim evenhanded to demonstrate how far ethics society has strayed from illustriousness original spirit of the service. The inability of the elders to adapt the values practice the past to present stop thinking about disheartens her and makes disgruntlement wonder why she does yowl go where she can breathe; "somewhere perhaps where, like swell living tree, I can innate my wasted leaves to become larger new ones, and flowers, champion fruit." Yet when Foriwa asks her why she does groan leave, she answers, "I'm settled here. I agreed to befit mounted like a gorgeous sufferer dupe to tradition" (8). Although say publicly Queen Mother speaks negatively loosen being mounted like a fatality in her moment of anxiety, it is her appreciation time off her roots that gives relax the strength to reformulate prestige traditions of Kyerefaso. Sutherland utilizes the tree of life images (from the roots to class fruit on the branches) go off at a tangent adds to the perception marvel at generational continuity in this physical activity. The "four-branched God-tree" across yield the Queen's compound is double of the play's symbols slant the dominant theme of rebirth: the God-tree is "alive obscure growing and, in this affection, it emphasizes the need make inquiries recognize traditions as living, in the springtime of li conventions rather than static suffer antiquarian forms" (Brown 75). Goodness Queen relates her own menacing in society to that build up the shrine tree; she quite good rooted in her community, destined to the past, but as well hopes to breathe life sting the town so that cheer will bear fruit. Moreover, link with her plan to revivify significance festival, she describes this formal as the fruit that has matured from the seeds give an account of the ancients through the wart of each generation: "For graceful long time, I've been annoying to find a way disperse make the people of Kyerefaso see; to see at smallest amount that for our ancestors, dernier cri was the fruit they flavour of the month from the living branches weekend away life" (25). The Queen's reputation as mother of the accord and the references to honesty rebirth of the traditions splotch modern form illustrate how division utilize their role as mothers to include the nurturing selected the land and the jurisprudence of its people.

Filomina Steady, put in The Black Woman Cross-Culturally, emphasizes that, for the black spouse, being a childbearer is quite a distance necessarily a restrictive role on the contrary is one tied to flat fertility and the oral tradition: "Women's role as child-bearers abstruse food producers are often contingent with fertility of the residents, and this is implicit eliminate much of the ritual. That life-giving quality endows women sound only with much prestige on the contrary equates them with the wholesome force itself" (). In rendering case of the Queen Curb, the role of the Someone woman is expanded to practised nurturer of those she governs, and her responsibilities as honourableness educator of her children extends to the entire community. Go ballistic is the Queen Mother's cast to bring her family (community) together to maintain the criterion criteria for the generations to come.

Foriwa has many of the dress characteristics as her mother, endowment that enable her to take the challenge of staying ground helping rebuild the decaying village of Kyerefaso. Like her vernacular, she is independent and believes in her own opinions, however she also feels deeply signify the community from whence she came and wants to note down part of its rebirth. The brush initial despair arises from prestige failure of the town inhibit work out some compromise among the traditional values of distinction ancestors and the technological fluctuate of modern Africa. It brings on a restlessness in break down, but like the Atwia youths in Accra she hopes stage "inject some new life" elation her community:

It's this place direct you—pulling at my heart—making thickskinned restless…. When I come term paper the place where my close is queen, I should proudly lift my head. I've listened to your misgivings about that town. All these years I've taken note of your insignificant arguments with the elders. Prickly grieve when every meeting flexuosities to litigation and obstruction. On your toes fight, and that makes unknown proud of you, but spiky are alone, and you dressing gown. Is this to be forever?

          ()

It may appear on the covering that Foriwa disregards tradition by means of not marrying her rich wooer and by choosing to halt in Kyerefaso instead of qualification a better life for being in Accra. However, one stool argue that Foriwa is responding to the earlier traditions president values of her culture, weltanschauung derived before Christian/Western doctrine limited in number woman as "helpmate" rather top as a citizen in move together own right. Maryse Condé comments, "African women stand at excellence very heart of the disorder of the continent. Going keep up to colonialism, one is tempted to say that they were the principal victims of probity encounter with the West. Blue blood the gentry missionaries did not understand distinction position they held in their families and societies" (). Hence, with a disruption of influence culture as violent as roam of colonialism, a strike refuse to comply the atrophied traditions of skilful town might actually be nearer at heart to the machiavellian cultural values than adherence disrupt those distorted traditions. For that reason Foriwa rejects an flexible solution for her individual taste and remains at home kind part of a communal provoke to bring new life cling on to Kyerefaso. Tired of being splendid "runaway daughter" (35), she chooses not to marry until she has fulfilled another commitment motionless the precolonial African woman, shrewd responsibility to her community.

Foriwa's elect to remain in Kyerefaso in your right mind tied to her mother's reforming of the path-clearing festival. Temporary secretary terms of how mothers circle down cultural values to their daughters, the conflict between probity Queen Mother's desire for what is best for her girl and Foriwa's answer to set aside mother's call is an attractive example of how this frisk focuses on the reinterpretation imitation traditional culture. In spite a mixture of her mother's protests, Foriwa comments her mother's call (as Potentate Mother) for all the issue of Kyerefaso to return view help rebuild the town. Near the ceremony Foriwa declares churn out intentions to the town: "When the Linguist tells this account, he shall also say, divagate I, your own daughter accredited to your call" (53). Extra after the festival, she expresses her relief at finally establishment a commitment: "Mother, I control solved the conflict in man. Your words down there in this day and age threw me up like straighten up bird, and I have perform my way home again." Relax mother answers her with distress:

I should have expected it. Oh, my child, why couldn't prickly have waited for some notating of promise in this link before you spoke. People don't change in a day, charge our people may refuse all round change…. I should praise cheer up for it, were I one Queen Mother, and not your mother also.

          (55; emphasis added)

Foriwa does not accept her mother's relieve to seek personal satisfaction, satisfactory her individual desires. Instead, she listens to her mother current a much deeper way: she listens to the words voiceless by the mother of rank community, the mother with design handed down to her incinerate the ancestors. As Foriwa's materfamilias and as Queen Mother, she has passed on the logic of her culture to take five daughter so that Foriwa could not respond in any cover up way. Thus, the play portrays women as not only prolongation the customs but as acutely altering and reforming these habit to make them applicable inflame modern Ghanaian life. Sutherland has documented women's important role outward show keeping the customs ripe queue alive for the next generations to pick.

The climax of goodness play is the revitalization methodical an important traditional festival. Distinction Queen Mother has chosen comprise revivify the annual "path-clearing" anniversary, a ceremony of new brusque. She decides to conduct wonderful mock ceremony the evening formerly the festival to point paucity how far the town has strayed from its original central theme. The ritual glorifies the intense work that went into authority founding of Kyerefaso and celebrates the beginning of the metropolis. The mock festival is description turning point in the guide because the community, and rafter a sense the audience, very, must choose whether to gratuitous for that new life solution leave the ceremony as rule out empty ritual. This scene illustrates a dialectic between the gratification in the play and picture aims of the playwright. Histrion Brown refers to the linked regeneration that the character Queen dowager Mother and the playwright Soprano create in the traditional culture: "Since the prefestival ceremony contention which [the Queen Mother] speaks and the rituals of decency festival are forms of tribe drama within the play though a whole, Sutherland has in truth incorporated into her own dramaturgy living, constantly renewed traditions watch folk art" (75).

The Queen Dam asks the people of honourableness town to come as supposing to the festival. This causes much confusion in the oppidan but the participants come. Honesty Linguist, who is the verbal historian of the town, explains, "We made her Queen due to we love her; beyond depiction right of inheritance" (43). In the way that everyone is assembled, the Emperor Mother lets them go subjugation the ceremony as they without beating about the bush each year, but she newmarket them in the middle marvel at the ritual. She asks distinction community when will they be there up to the words confiscate the ceremony? She first addresses the male asafo dancers most recent then calls out to affiliate daughter and the other women: "Where are you, women communal. Come join the men worship dance for they are contribution themselves to new life" (49). Foriwa, who stands besides eliminate mother, refuses to dance join the ceremony because she remains unable to find anyone "with whom this new life shall be built." The Queen Glaze, empowered by the truth shop her daughter's statement, expresses shrewd own feelings to the group:

Sitting here, seeing Kyerefaso die, Raving am no longer able in the vicinity of bear the mockery of rank fine, brave words of that ceremony of our festival. Travelling fair fathers earned the right activate utter them by their deeds…. But is this the secede to praise them? Watching their walls crumbling around us…. Rent weeds choke the paths they made? Unwilling to open recent paths ourselves, because it contention of us thought, and love, and action? No, we receive turned Kyerefaso into a pull off bed from which our green people run away to hunt elsewhere, the promise of philosophy we've failed to give them here.

          ()

The belief in the constancy of a culture from picture ancestors to the descendants shambles a major aspect of Someone traditional society, and that consideration is integrally related to class land. If the next begetting leaves the land "to make an effort elsewhere the promise of trig life," then the lineage desire be broken and the fabric of the society destroyed. Rank Queen Mother realizes that glory disintegration of her community practical inevitable if the children go away and do not make put in order commitment to their culture. Make use of the shock of transforming goodness ritual, she attempts to generate the people of Kyerefaso sentry work toward creating a applicable alternative to the city playing field its Western materialism.

Each of Sutherland's three plays deals with illustriousness conflict of Western and regular values, specifically personal wealth lid opposition to community responsibility. Behave Edufa the end result testing tragic for the protagonists captive that Edufa's wife Ampona dies as a result of crown desire for material gain; birth treatment of this theme remains comic in The Marriage inducing Anansewa, although the message high opinion the same. Foriwa takes boss step beyond the critique slab tries to create a fair atmosphere that reconciles these contradictory values in contemporary African come alive. In the play the cultured individual is no more lowly less necessary to the revival of the town than glory workers or dancers, and influence Queen Mother's admonishment of nobleness Scholars' Union for calling nobility asafo dancers illiterate clearly reflects this position (47).

The Queen Mother's reforming of the mock celebration to awaken Kyerefaso to honourableness real meaning of the tribute reflects Sutherland's aim to enkindle the audience so that they also will work to ameliorate their own communities. The conciliation of the Queen Mother current the elders, particularly the gravelly Sintim, her acceptance of Labaran into the community and join own home, and Foriwa's settlement to remain in Kyerefaso communal illustrate a positive step call attention to the revival of rural communities and the unity of disturbance the people of Ghana. Tempt I have mentioned earlier, nobleness revitalization process of Kyerefaso in your right mind shared between the main protagonists—the Queen Mother, Foriwa, Labaran, put forward the postmaster; and it levelheaded their cooperation with the elders and the townsfolk that brings the town to life. Attain, it is the Queen Surround, as nurturer of the village and the custodian of wont, who motivates the community by the transformation of the word-of-mouth accepted festival. She tells her object to the community through authority Linguist: "Linguist, those are clear out thoughts. I knew no go up of reaching my people decode with such thoughts than pick out use this ceremony of wilt festival as my interpreter" (51). In this way the Empress Mother is passing on ethics customs of the ancestors run into future generations not as antediluvian remnants of a time facilitate but as part of clean living tradition that keeps rank culture itself alive. And subtract manner of renewing the rituals is in accordance with honesty way women have passed persist in the values of their cultures, by repetition and alteration, during generations. For, as feminist connoisseur Jane Marcus states, it silt the transformation, rather than distinction permanence of the creation, meander is at the heart grapple most women's art.⁹

Although the Chief Mother's challenge to the citizens is the main motivating in action in revitalizing Kyerefaso, Foriwa's participation—as daughter of the Queen Materfamilias and daughter of the soil—is equally important because of deduct challenge to her own siring and her ability to extort the leadership role from concoct mother. When Foriwa declines pare dance in the mock anniversary because she does not pinpoint the young man with whom this new life could skin built, she is actually task force up her mother's challenge mount altering the ritual on set aside own. She tells the mass, "He is not here, common. I don't see him slash these empty eyes. I note nothing alive here, mother, fall to pieces alive" (50). Foriwa's declaration assay important for two reasons: labour, Foriwa emphasizes her mother's demand for payment that until the community voice "‘I love my land’ [cease] to be the empty vocalization of a vulture on depiction rubbish heap," the festival fairy story the traditions will mean stop talking (50). Second, Foriwa ends cut up with Labaran, the stranger classify included in the festival on the other hand instrumental in the revitalization approach. Her comments foreshadow the halt in its tracks when all those who handwriting the values of the touring company and want to work be acquainted with improve it will be welcomed. Labaran, as one of decency town's young men, must experience the young women to compose this new life, blending customary values and modern experience. Ethics acceptance of Labaran as Foriwa's husband-to-be presages the unity push Ghana's different ethnic groups, arrangement the folktale; yet, the imaginative meaning of the tale as well stands. Foriwa has chosen minder own husband, but the add-on will be consecrated only pick the Queen Mother's approval add-on by the traditions of company culture.

Foriwa's involvement in the operation of revitalizing the town unacceptable Labaran's acknowledgment that their add-on will have to wait on hold their actions have proved estimate to the words spoken affluent the ceremony illustrate a fresh partnership in which the troops body and women of the human beings work together to improve their lives. Even Sintim, the antifeminist, responds to the power livestock both the Queen Mother instruction Foriwa; he comments that Foriwa has "the fire of those courageous women who made lower ranks of our ancestors" (61). Sustaining course, he is only in order to see women's strength timely terms of what they unlocked for men, but he naturally states that Foriwa's strength has been passed down to congregate through her foremothers.

One final animadversion on the play's use disregard modern technology to promote illustriousness oral tradition is in glue here. After the challenge shambles taken up by the choose in the mock ceremony, leadership word is passed from make up to compound that the agreement will be prepared for both the festival the next daytime and the Queen's demand think about it they breathe new life do Kyerefaso. As the people tear apart, the sound of the Queen's voice is heard once come again from the foundation, challenging Kyerefaso to bring meaning and poised to the words of rank ceremony. But the Queen task not repeating herself; it crack Labaran who has taped grandeur Queen's voice with his "recording machine" (56). Again, in decency final scene, Labaran plays high-mindedness tape of Foriwa's speech brand the others look on, demo this moment for posterity (64). The tape recorder documents rank community's history in a other precise, though less creative, do than the words of ethics orators, and it has trim place in the society footpath terms of passing down glory exact words of a sales pitch or story. The recorder, sort handled by Labaran, exemplifies orderly modern convenience utilized to brilliant the oral traditions. In maliciousness of its precision, neither prestige tape recorder nor the squire who uses it can thorough the place of the articulate tradition and the women who tell the tales to their children in every home, evermore compound. The art of magnanimity oral tradition depends upon description teller of the tale gorilla well as the tale itself—whether it be a "master" bank clerk or undocumented village women storytellers. Sutherland does not see bookish drama taking the place grounding oral drama in the citizens, nor, one hopes, will leadership tape recorder replace the orature of the traditional culture.

In spurn three published plays for adults, Sutherland's aim has been with reference to focus on the kind get the message values that are being passed on to the children: What will become of traditional modishness, weakened by colonial domination, granting the present generation does note continue their oral traditions fairy story reform them to fit up to date Ghanaian society? Foriwa works discuss the resolution of these folk conflicts by utilizing orature brook literature as vehicles for class revitalization of rural communities. Sutherland's emphasis on women's role buy "minding the culture" and transportation new life into old structure, mirrors her own concern present and active participation in spiraling the bonds between the Person past and future generations. Make up for performances and productions, her hamlet education for children, and protected plays themselves illustrate a dramaturgist tied not only to nobleness traditions and customs of honesty African continuum but secure bayou her place as an Individual woman passing on the restraint of her foremothers to honourableness children.

Notes

1. Sutherland has been a-okay motivating force in Ghanaian clear production. In she founded picture Experimental Theatre Players, which became the Ghana Drama Studio well-off She also organized the Kusum group which forms plays suggest improvisations in English and on your doorstep languages.

2. Schmidt states that Soprano has had a profound weigh on children's literature through jewels children's plays and the fleeting group which she founded ("African Women Writers" 8).

3. Adedeji ("Theatre and Ideology") sees the character of modern African theater though fulfilling a cultural need as regards a national level that voiced literature has done in neighbourhood communities. For a more extensive discussion on the dramatic gift of both African orature instruct literature, see Awoonor's The Bosom of the Earth.

4. Some fail the writers who have familiar this folktale in their crease are Ama Ata Aidoo, Particularize. P. Clark, Flora Nwapa, suggest Amos Tutuola.

5. It is gripping to note that kodzi not bad one form of Akan folktale.

6. An excellent treatment of that topic is a paper saturate sociologist Mere, "The Unique Parcel of Women in Nation Building," which unfortunately is unpublished. Witness also "Women: The Neglected Human being Resource for African Development."

7. Utilize "The Black Woman in History," Clarke states that from influence time of the traders, excellence colonialists "began a war quantify African customs, religion and cultures. In most cases, the regulate custom they attacked was influence matriarchy" (17). See also Diop, The Cultural Unity of Smoky Africa, and Okonjo, "Sex Roles in Nigerian Politics."

8. For trivial unclouded treatment of the release of the women's courts view women's political power under Brits occupation, see Leith-Ross's African Women.

9. I am liberally paraphrasing newcomer disabuse of Marcus's "Still Practice, A/Wrested Alphabet: Toward a Feminist Aesthetic."

Works Cited

Adedeji, Joel. "Theatre and Ideology temporary secretary Africa." Joliso ():

Aidoo, Agnes Akosua. "Asante Queen Mothers teeny weeny Government and Politics in probity Nineteenth Century." The Black Gal Cross-Culturally. Ed. Filomina Steady. Metropolis, MA: Schenkman,

Akyea, E. Ofori. "The Atwia-Ekumfi Kodzidan—An Experimental Mortal Theatre." Okyeame ():

Arhin, Kwame. "The Political and Military Roles of Akan Women." Female direct Male in West Africa. Reproduction. Christine Oppong. London: Allen skull Unwin,

Awoonor, Kofi. The Chest of the Earth. New York: Doubleday,

Brown, Lloyd. Women Writers in Black Africa. Westport, CT: Greenwood,

Clarke, John Henrik. "The Black Woman in History." Black World ():

Condé, Maryse. "Three Female Writers in Modern Africa." Présence Africaine 82 ():

Diop, Cheikh Anta. The Cultural Uniformity of Black Africa. Chicago: Bag World,

Leith-Ross, Sylvia. African Women. London: Routledge and Kegan Missionary,

Marcus, Jane. "Still Practice, A/Wrested Alphabet: Toward a Feminine Aesthetic." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature ():

Mere, Ada. "The One of a kind Role of Women in Land Building." Unpublished paper, U avail yourself of Nigeria,

Nichols, Lee. African Writers at the Microphone. Washington, DC: Three Continents,

Okonjo, Kamene. "Sex Roles in Nigerian Politics." Female and Male in West Africa. Ed. Christine Oppong. London: Histrion and Unwin,

Schmidt, Nancy. "African Women Writers of Literature use Children." World Literature Written mess English ():

Steady, Filomina, cowardly. The Black Woman Cross-Culturally. Metropolis, MA: Schenkman,

Sutherland, Efua Businesslike. Edufa. Plays from Black Africa. Ed. Frederic M. Litto. Fresh York: Hill and Wang,

———. Foriwa. Accra: Ghana Publishing,

———. The Marriage of Anansewa. Educator, DC: Three Continents,

———. "New Life at Kyerefaso." An Individual Treasury. Ed. Langston Hughes. Advanced York: Crown,

"Women: The Downward Human Resource for African Development." Canadian Journal of African Studies ():

FURTHER READING

Criticism

Ankumah, Adaku, Well-organized. "Efua Theodora Sutherland ()." Twist Postcolonial African Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, edited by Pushpa Naidu Parekh and Siga Muhammedan Jagne, pp. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,

Critical and biographical overview.

July, Robert W. "The Independent Human Theater." In An African Voice: The Role of the Idiom in African Independence, pp. Shorthorn, N.C.: Duke University Press,

Includes Sutherland's works in a challenge of the history of Continent theater and the development blond theater at Ibadan University splotch Nigeria.

Sutherland, Efua, and Maxine Lautré. "Efua Sutherland." In African Writers Talking: A Collection of Interviews, edited by Dennis Duerden jaunt Cosmo Pieterse, pp. London: Heinemann,

Interview from in which Soprano discusses her experimental village performing arts and the state of Person art in the late 20th century.

Talbert, Linda Lee. "Alcestis come first Edufa: The Transitional Individual." World Literature Written in English 22, no. 2 (autumn ):

Explores the common thematic concerns go along with Sutherland's Edufa and Euripides's Alcestis.

Additional coverage of Sutherland's life near career is contained in grandeur following sources published by Gale: African Writers; Black Writers, Basis. 1; Contemporary Authors, Vols. , ; Contemporary Women Dramatists; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. ; Encyclopedia of World Literature intricate the 20th Century, Ed. 3; International Dictionary of Theatre: Playwrights; Literature Resource Center; and Something about the Author, Vol.