Biography

Efua Sutherland devoted her career to promoting African art forms. Along with her work as a teacher and radio broadcaster, this Ghanaian intellectual wrote short stories, plays, and poems; she also led the way in creating numerous organizations and projects to develop African writing and African theater. The future writer was born Efua Theodora on June 27, 1924, at Cape Coast, a coastal town in the British colony of the Gold Coast.

The young girl obtained her education on two continents. After graduating from St. Monica's School and Training College at Mampong in the Ashanti region of the Gold Coast, she continued her studies in England. One of the first African women to attend Cambridge University, she studied there at Homerton College and took a B.A. degree; she continued her education abroad at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

As a literary pioneer, the young teacher struck off in an even more novel direction in developing a theatrical movement in her native country. While Ghana had a tradition of public storytelling and dramatic performances at festivals and funerals, there was nothing on the order of formal theater. Sutherland changed that by sponsoring adult theatrical productions and also by creating a children's theater program. (Full Bio)

Plays

Edufa (1962)

Edufa, Efua Sutherland's adaptation of the Greek play Alcestis, is a study of the cultural conflicts of the transitional African who is torn between the differing values of the traditional tribal society and the modern industrialized world. (Source)

Cast Requirement: 8+ (3f, 5m)

Characters: Abena, Edufa, Seguwa, Ampoma, Kankam, Senchi, Sam, Chorus of Women from the Town

Publication Info: The Marriage of Anansewa ; Edufa : two plays. Longman, 1987. (Link)

Crosswinds: an Anthology of Black Dramatists in the Diaspora. Edited by William B. Branch. Indiana University Press, 1993. (Link)

Foriwa (1962)

In the play, several characters join in a successful effort to revive and reinvigorate the traditional beliefs of an African village. A four-branched tree set in the midst of the village and devoted to the gods stands present throughout the play. It represents healthy continuity, and the ability to grow on the basis of a lengthy past. Similarly, the wandering young university graduate Labaran joins forces with the town's queen-mother and her daughter Foriwa to seize 'a dormant vitality waiting to be released from static and unproductive notions of tradition. By making two women into agents of change, Sutherland presented a critique of the basic forms of African society. (Source)

Cast Requirement: 24 (7f, 6m, 11any)

Characters: Labaran, 1st Young Woman, 2nd Young Woman, Foriwa, Queen Mother, Chauffeur, Auntie Docia, Mr. Anipare, Attendant, Postmaster, 1st Draughts Player, 2nd Draughts Player, Sintim, Brobi’s Brother, Azule, Head Priest, Linguist, 1st Scholar, 2nd Scholar, 3rd Scholar, Asafo, Brobi, Auto, A Little Boy

Publication Info: Foriwa : a play. Ghana Publ. Co., 1971. (Link)

The Marriage of Anansewa (1975)

Ananse is an old rogue who wants to make as much money as possible by marrying off his daughter Anansewa. He promises her to four chiefs at the same time: the Chief of the Mines, Togbe Klu IV, the Chief of Sapa, and Chief-Who-Is-Chief. Anansewa receives gifts from all four chiefs, who are unaware of their rivals. Ananse suddenly finds himself facing a catastrophe when the chiefs all decide to come and offer the ‘head-drink’ which will place the seal on their marriage. To get out of his difficulties, Ananse persuades Anansewa to pretend to die, and announces her sad death to the chiefs. They respond by sending messengers who tell how the chiefs would have cared for Anansewa. The Chief of the Mines declares that she could have brought up his children; the Chief of Sapa had hoped that she would replace his ‘bitchy, ugly’ wife; Togbe Klu's messengers announce that their Chief would have been happy to exploit Anansewa's secretarial skills in his business, and having recently been converted to Christianity will not follow the old custom of sending a funeral gift. Finally, the Chief-Who-Is-Chief lets it be known that he is devastated since he regarded himself as already married to Anansewa and that he will therefore bear the whole cost of the funeral. Touched by his kindness and generosity, Ananse “miraculously” brings his daughter back to life, and she prepares to marry her one honourable suitor. (Source)

Cast Requirement: 20+

Characters: Property Man, Ananse, Anansewa, Post Office Crew, Storyteller, Akwasi and Akosua, Postman, Sapaase Messengers, Chief-who-is-Chief’s Messenger, Aya, Ekuwa, Christie, Girls, Two Women, Messengers

Publication Info: The Marriage of Anansewa ; Edufa : two plays. Longman, 1987. (Link)