Throughout her life, Efua Sutherland 
The Last Visitor's Note 
Marlon M 
Bailey 
GLENDORA . . . . 
BAILEY as it turned out was probably the last caller at 
the late Ms Sutherland's to be granted an interview before 
her translation early in 1996. He recalls this visit 
when Sutherland bared her mind on children education 
and documentation. 
was committed to preserving traditional African 
art and teaching children authentic artistic 
methodology void of European influence. 
During our conversation, Sutherland constantly 
spoke of documentation. She spoke of an 
imperative to document the African way so that 
the children could have a means of continuing 
their great African artistic tradition. 'Documentation 
is important because the children or the 
next generation need to know history in order 
to create a new reality for themselves, so we 
must document in order for our children to know/ 
Sutherland remarked. Historian W. Robert July 
discusses Sutherland's idea of children being the 
focus for documentation. He attests that she 
clearly understood the threat of European cultural 
hegemony to the preservation of Ghanaian artistic 
traditions, especially when it is internalised by 
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Efua Sutherland 
children; this is what compelled her to write 
several children's books, short stories, and 
plays. Ultimately, she was determined to 
create a body of dramatic literature written 
by Africans, which was to be enjoyed by 
Africans-by schoolchildren as well as public 
at large (75). 
Artistic authenticity was also essential 
to Ms. Sutherland's work. Always committed 
to doing things'the African way,' Sutherland 
consistently criticised those who sought to 
imitate European artistic methods and traditions 
in the belief that the coloniser's way is 
theonlyway. Ms. Sutherland articulated the 
need for a commitment to the African theatre 
void of European influences. 
Well, first we must be true to ourselves 
and our own artistry. There has been too 
much concern with what Europeans do and 
how Africans can do what Europeans do. 
You see, you don't strive to write a play like 
Moliere because Moliere is not you. You can 
appreciate Moliere because maybe his plays 
have some universal quality to them, but you 
shouldn't as an African, attempt to recreate 
what Moliere created. Europeans have traditionally 
sought to imitate, and unfortunately 
some Africans do the imitation thing as well. 
Similar to Sutherland's view on artistic 
documentation, she again pointed out the 
importance of children. She stated: 
If we continue imitating we don't have 
anything to give our children-anything true to 
use as an inspiration or a guide to use in their 
creative process-something that is African. I 
mean, really, why would I want to write like 
African Quarterly 
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Vol. mo 3 GLENDORA,
Moliere or any other European for that matter? 
Of course, the entire continent of 
Africa is very familiar with the struggle for 
cultural autonomy. Due to this long history 
of largely European colonial rule over 
Africa, indigenous practices are continually 
overshadowed by foreign influences. It is 
asserted or implied by many that there are 
no indigenous African art forms. However, 
Sutherland vehemently argued that there are 
definitely discernible and identifiable African 
art forms, particularly in regard to 
theatre. She also challenged African artists to 
move beyond their colonial training in an 
effort to rectify the historical absence of a 
commensurate attention to the African artistry 
in their European education. 
sFinally, Sutherland was an advocate 
4 ^ ^ he constantly spoke of art that people can actually 
use to solve their problems as opposed to art that 
the variety of political and social needs of African 
people. 
for art that was unabashedly functional. She 
constantly spoke of art that people can 
actually use to solve their problems as 
opposed to art that facilitates social escapism 
and denial. In all of her artistic accomplishments, 
Sutherland sought to meet the 
variety of political and social needs of African 
people. For example, during the final 
portion of my interview with Sutherland, she 
emphatically spoke of the need to erase the 
dichotomy between art and life. 
To Africans, art is life; it is a way of life; 
it is essential to our existence. If we don't 
preserve it and we lose it, then we have 
nothing. Our children, who are key to our 
cultural sustenance and development, will 
start to crave for it- they are raised on it. Art 
has always been the constant thing that we 
is divorced from direct community relevance, 
particularly those communities that 
are economically and socially deprived as 
well as politically silenced. As in the'West,' 
the disparity between the rich and poor in 
Ghana and many other African countries 
widens, the nature of how art is viewed 
becomes constrained and construed by the 
limited but powerful purview of the elite-a 
consequence that Sutherland totally opposed. 
However, Sutherland's belief in the principle 
and practice of artistic purpose and usefulness, 
or art for political responsibility and 
social obligation, was constant. Consequently, 
Sutherland's commitment to this 
African value led her to create such groups 
as the Ghana Society of Writers and the 
Ghana Experimental Theatre. Needing a 
facilitates social escapism and denial. In all of her 
artistic accomplishments, Sutherland sought to meet 
GLENDORA....... 
African Quarterly 
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Vol. 2/No 3 
as African people own. It is what we use. 
One of the most important distinctions 
that Sutherland made is that African art does 
not seek to simply reflect social problems, 
placing the responsibility of deriving solutions 
on the people; instead, African art is 
the solution. She further stated: 
If there is a famine or something, the 
people will do a ritual, which uses all of the 
art forms. It is used as method to combat the 
ills of a particular time or to solve a particular 
problem. It is used within our culture. 
Sutherland argued for an artistic tradition 
that challenges the plethora of external 
influences from European colonisers. The 
historic prepondence of a European influence 
has created a mainstream artistic 
tradition that is seen only as an activity for 
the socially privileged. In actual practice, it
home for the theatre company, she 
conceived the Drama Studio and was 
instrumental in its construction and completion 
in 1961. 
Sutherland's courageous efforts are 
demonstrative of her awareness of the 
correlation between social-political movements 
and artistic ones. As Ghana liberated 
itself from colonial rule, its art had to reflect 
and promote liberation from European 
hegemony as well. After gaining independence 
in 1957, Ghana experienced a period 
of invigorating self-empowerment and freedom. 
Sutherland's accomplishments came at 
a time of tremendous political fervour, 
which garnered her overwhelming and timely 
support from Kwame Nkrumah, the first president 
of the Republic of Ghana. Consistent 
with Sutherland's ideas, Nkrumah sug- one of the most important distinctions that Sutherland 
made is that African art does not seek to simply reflect 
social problems, placing the responsibility of deriving 
solutions on the people; instead, African art is the 
solution. 
gested in July 1974 that Ghana focus 
inward as opposed to looking to Europe and 
the United States for its identity and purpose. 
Unfortunately, in recent years, due to 
the downward spiraling of the Ghanaian 
economy, state support of the efforts of 
Sutherland and others has rapidly waned, 
causing most of her contemporaries to move 
to other countries. Nonetheless, Sutherland's 
efforts in Ghana inspired several countries in 
Africa in their search for self-autonomy. 
Many of Sutherland's ideas have echoed 
throughout Africa and the African Diaspora. 
South Africa, Haiti, Trinidad, Senegal, and 
many other Black nations have recognised 
and continue to use the arts as an active ally 
in social and political struggles. 
Similar to continental Africans and 
others of the African Diaspora, Sutherland's 
engulfed in the destructive cultural misrepresentations 
of themselves offered by mainstream 
America's entertainment industry and 
fail to engage in any kind of indigenous 
cultural consciousness. 
Largely due to their unique existence 
in America, many African American artists 
view art and the Black experience in very 
myopic and parochial ways, relating artistic 
heritage only to American shores. Although 
many African Americans looking to Africa 
as a cultural birthplace, unfortunately, many 
approach the thought of look at Africa as a 
resource, guide, and partner in artistic 
endeavours with extreme trepidation. Similar 
to the prevailing situation in Ghana, 
progressive and socially conscious African 
American artists suffer under the crippling 
perils of the rich and the powerful who are 
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Vol. 2/No. 3 GLENDORA, 
views have profound implications for African 
Americans in their quest for social autonomy 
in America's oppressive social climate. Due 
to their recognition of the role of art in social 
and political struggles both abroad and at 
home, in recent years, many African American 
writers have begun to look more closely 
at continental Africa and the African Diaspora 
as a way of realising the strong artistic 
connections that people of the entire African 
world possess. For instance, Sutherland's 
idea of artistic documentation in regard to 
cultural aesthetics is imperative to African 
Americans because children are constantly 
bombarded with all of the exploitative 
manifestations of American popular culture. 
Living in this environment, African American 
children have a very difficult time realising 
their true cultural identity. They become
instrumental in determining what constitutes 
art. So, when Efua Sutherland claims, 'you 
people in the U.S. do that art-for-art's-sake 
thing,' she is accurately asserting how 
popular mainstream artistry in America 
tends to be disconnected politically and is 
largely retrograde socially. 
In terms of theatre, however, B. William 
Branch's very important anthology 
entitled Crosswinds: An Anthology of Black 
Dramatists in the Diaspora reflects 
Sutherland's vision. This compilation includes 
Black playwrights from Nigeria, South Africa, 
Trinidad, Brazil, England, Ghana, and the 
United States. In his discussion of the anthology, 
he addresses the question of a shared 
or common artistic purpose. Most importantly, 
Branch piognantly articulates some 
of the key aspects of Sutherland's notion of 
a theatre that is functional and useful. He 
states:
These artists unabashedly have axes 
to grind, evils to expose, and sermons to 
preach. And yet there is much enjoyment 
and artistry along the way. Perhaps in the 
tradition of those unknown African bards 
who created the ancient Egyptian Passion 
plays, they see themselves as serving a vital 
function in their respective societies: that of 
involving themselves and their fellow humans 
in a challenge to the mind and spirit, 
a catharsis of the soul, a search for truth and 
justice-if not always for beauty, (xxvij 
This anthology, which includes one of 
Sutherland's plays, is evidence that 
Sutherland's vision has had an enormous 
impact on many artists of African descent. 
Her stern commitment to art and its relationship 
to social progress is an extremely important 
notion that tends to wane when 
political structures become more stable and 
people are given ostensible security. What 
Sutherland has done is set a precedent for a 
GLENDORA. 
African Quarterly 
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Vol. 2/No. 3 
continual struggle to promote an indigenous 
African theatre as well as other art forms void 
of non-African influence that, in the minds of 
African people, warrants recognition equal 
to the perceptions of superiorly given to the 
various forms of the Western artistic tradition. 
By creating a body of literature and 
several existing institutions, like the Drama 
Studio, to teach the people of the land about 
the distinction and validity of their own 
culture, Sutherland launched an artistic 
movement in Africa as she simultaneously 
inspired African artists everywhere. Our 
artistic efforts need to embody Sutherland's 
vision and continue the international struggle 
that she could not finish. Most of all, while we 
strive for freedom and equality, our art must 
serve as our method of illumination and 
reflection, especially to those blinded by the 
haze of materialism. What 'Auntie Esi' left 
behind is something that African artists all 
over the world must emulate in some form if 
we are to continue on a progressive path to 
social freedom and a true cultural identity. 
Efua Theodora Sutherland's death has been 
a great loss in many ways, but her legacy 
continues to tremendously impact our livesshe 
is sorely missed. GR 
Work Cited 
Branch, B. William, ed. Introduction, 
Crosswinds: An Anthology of Black 
Dramatists in the Diaspora. Bloomington: 
Indiana UP, 1993. 
July, W. Robert. An African Voice: The 
Role of Humanities in African 
Independence. Durham: Duke UP, 1987. 
Olaniyan, Tejumola, Scars of Conquest, 
Masks of Resistance: The Inventions of 
Cultural Identities in African, African 
American, and Caribbean Drama. New 
York: Oxford UP, 1995.