Studio Manager’s Message

To all of our esteemed patrons and members of the university community, I wish to welcome you to the Efua Theodora Sutherland (ETS) Drama Studio via its website. The School of Performing Arts’ ETS Drama Studio is the place where creative inquiry and discovery take place. The Studio’s objective is to enhance, develop, and ignite the creative life of the School of Performing Arts, the University community, and the surrounding areas. We offer a unique fusion of indigenous and contemporary performances. In an effort to provide a diverse range of artists, acts, and groups from all art genres, we showcase the finest community and professional performers. It is to be a space where all artists and audiences can pursue varied ways of investigating the theatrical world and the place of Ghana and Africa within it. It presents, champions, and celebrates creativity in all its forms. The Studio represents aspects of the cultural nationalism Dr. Kwame Nkrumah spoke about in 1961 in terms of ideas development, dramaturgical training, and practices. It is, therefore, an important theatre architecture and house in Ghana and Africa when it comes to training in the performing arts, fulfilling the dreams of Efua Theodora Sutherland and her contemporary-trailblazers of Ghanaian theatre campaign in the 1960s. The Studio keeps its patrons and university community members informed about the contributions of performing arts to national development despite the nuances and changes in the show-business world, especially in the performing arts. It is for this reason that this website further showcases the sustainable operation of the ETS Drama Studio and the School of Performing Arts in the country. The steadfast commitment of our patrons, staff, students and the university community to maintaining the Studio’s reputation inspires me just as much. I reaffirm my unwavering dedication to protecting the welfare and security of all our clients. I look forward to your continued partnership in this journey.

About the Efua Theodora Sutherland Drama Studio

The Efua Theodora Sutherland (ETS) Drama Studio, located in the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, Legon, was built in 1991 as a replica and replacement for the Ghana Experimental Drama Studio, spearheaded by Efua Theodora Sutherland, a playwright, poet, teacher, and author. She was one of the prominent citizens of a committee created in 1956 by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to develop document on key social, economic and community impacts of a vibrant and healthy arts and cultural sector, and to lead a national theatre agenda. The Ghana Experimental Drama Studio was located on the grounds of the current National Theatre Complex in Accra. According to Donkor (2017), at the opening ceremony of the Ghana Experimental Drama Studio on October 21, 1961, the then president of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah “connected the Studio with the projection of a new postcolonial national cultural consciousness to the world” (p. 29).

The ETS Drama Studio is a multi-functional and open-air auditorium space, which serves as a hub for creative experimentation and discovery through research and workshops for the Department of Theatre Arts, Department of Dance Studies and Department of Music, and the Abibigromma, the Resident Theatre Company. It has an adaptable space of proscenium and arena stages that encourage integration of Western and African creative expression. The Studio collaborates with the performing arts community in the University of Ghana; people and groups from the neighbouring communities to perform music, dance and drama. The Studio fosters theatre activities all year long, and continues to lead Ghana’s and Africa’s efforts in the performing arts, knowing the significant roles theatre plays in spreading development concepts, whether they are social, economic, or political. Central to the current strategy to make the Studio effective as a theatre house is to improve on its facilities to host and nurture immense arts and culture programmes and experiences for all ages.

Spaces

Efua Sutherland designed the Experimental Drama Studio based on the traditional communal compound home dwelling of the Akan, which consisted of gyase (placed corner to corner around a quadrangular courtyard), pato (four sets of rooms), and dampon (thatch roofed over areas). These spaces had whitewashed upper walls and dark brown painted bottom walls that extended three feet above the floor. The entrance façades of the complexes were typically ornamented. The courtyard served as a sitting area for the king to accept and present gifts. Naturally, it also served as both a reception room and a venue for entertainment.

The Efua Sutherland Drama Studio at the School of Performing Arts is modeled around the Experimental Drama Studio’s Akan architectural features. The embellished entrance façade, for example, is represented outside by a classic stool-shaped front at both sides, one of which serves as an entrance and signifies “courteous welcome or reception.” The courtyard and reception area depict the arena stage. The Efua Sutherland Drama Studio consists of a 400-seat open-air auditorium; proscenium and arena stages, and a proscenium end-stage; costume shops serving the three departments (Dance Studies, Music, Theatre) as well as Abibigromma; a sound and lighting booth; lighting laboratory; a properties room; changing rooms for men and women; a scenery construction shop; scenic design room; a box office; snacks bar, and a Studio Administration Office and related amenities. The Department of Music’s Pop Band is also housed at the Studio.

Vision Statement

Fearless creative experimentation and discovery of the Arts.

Mission

We support experiences in the School of Performing Arts that are imbued with creativity and give audiences and artists alike, the freedom to explore the world and our role in it in a variety of ways.

Contact Us

ETS Drama Studio, School of Performing Arts,

University of Ghana,

P.O. Box LG 19, Legon.

Email: etsdramastudio@ug.edu.gh

X: @ETSDramaStudio

Facebook: ETS Drama Studio

Instagram: etsdramastudio

YouTube: @ETSDramaStudio