(#**. "?• INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORTS 61 OBSERVATIONS ON SPECTATOR-PERFORMER ARRANGEMENTS OF SOME TRADITIONAL GHANAIAN PERFORMANCES These observations cover only a small part of a wide range of traditional situations in which the arrangement or seating of spectators and performances, whether spontaneous or organised, is both interesting and suggestive of ideas which might be of use when the need becomes pressing to adapt the conventional theatre more extensively to local conditions. One cannot pretend that the most has been made of light or space, or that the problem of crowding and ventilation has been satisfactorily solved, or that the form of architecture as is at present in vogue suits our traditional performances. I start off with music and dance performances firstbecause they are characteristic of ail the peoples of Ghana and also because they occur in most of the other aspects to be examined later. Spectator-performer arrangements for music and dance performances fall into two main groups: (a) those for organised performances either for their own sake or in connection with an important observance e.g. funerals and festivals; (b) those for spontaneous performances like those which result when a few youths meet and without intending it, make music which in turn draws spectators, some of whom start to dance. When a performance is organised, it is usual to choose an open place. But the presence of trees on the fringes of the chosen area is however regarded as an advantage. Temporary structures usually of bamboo poles covered with palm leaves are erected to provide shade. These shelters may be arranged in a circular or horse-shoe fashion to partly or completely enclose an open area. Sometimes it is one long shed or a couple parallel to each other. provide any of these shelters because of fair weather, chairs, arranged in the open on much the same lines as where there existed the shelters, would be quite sufficient. If, on the other hand, it is considered unnecessary to This arrangement affords ample space for dancers, audience and musicians. There is freedom of movement and much room for executing variations of some of the intricate dances, the audience too, can come and 62 INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORTS go without interfering with performance. The problem of ventilation does not assume such proportions as is likely in a fully-packed theatre; much of the perspiration seen on people during such performances is due more to the energetic nature of the dances and sometimes to costume (voluminous dark cloths of the men, tight kabas and layers of drapery of the women at an Akan funeral on a hot afternoon, for example). Spontaneous dances are the unintentional oufcome of a musical performance, itself not planned but started casually. Here no consideration could have been given to shelter or the weather which sometimes interrupts i t. Sometimes the music starts in a lane, or on the spacious verandah of any house of the v i l l a g e, on a moonlit evening. Such performances can be brought to an abrupt end either by rain or the objections of other people either because their estates are being trespassed on or that the* gathering is blocking a public route. The formation here is rather less orderly than if it were organised. As spectators and dancers had gathered primarily because of the music, they would form a rough circle around the group of musicians, that is if there were room behind the musicians to allow that; otherwise the formation would be semi-circular, closing in on the musicians. The inevitable space for dancers in front of the musicians would develop as the gathering formed. i 0 Plan, of lane showing group. X musicians » dancers O spectators ins Led. INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORTS 63 Customary rites sometimes afford us some interesting examples for the study of performer-spectator relationships. One such example is a gathering which took place in a house at Atwea in the Central Region during an annual festival last July. On the day in question, heads of families were pouring libation to the ancestors and members of their families both at home and from abroad had gathered at their houses for this purpose. In one house, a closed compound type, the head and elders were seated in the pato which is like any of the other rooms but without one wall and that on the inside of the house. level of the floor of the courtyard. Its floor is a step higher than the general • 1 1 1 i 1 1 •— z 1 >^ 14- 13 * 9 - in _ - . . . .. i .. I. i — 6 PAtO 7 • .- 6 Plan of house. Nos.l - 13 are rooms, No. 14, kitchen View inside house showing "Pato" Other members of the family and us visitors sat in the courtyard, which is open to the sky. Sitting there in the courtyard, one felt compelled to look at what was happening on the pato > or was it originally some form of In the same village we found a contrast to the pato type. This was stage? in another house made up of two parallel blocks with a fence on one side and a covered entrance on the other. Here elders and members of the family were strung along the front of one of the blocks and on the opposite side sat visitors and such members of the family as could not find room as it were, family-side. People at extreme ends of both rows were clearly uncomfortable, having to crane their necks and look sideways - fhe distance also made it impossible for them to hear properly what was being said at the 64 INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORTS centre, by the head of family. Maybe the covered entrance, shut, would have made a better sort of position for the elders and headman while the whole courtyard served as auditorium. Acoustics as well as vision would be greatly imporved. z A / jr c < t i J 7 Plan of parallel-block house 1-8 are rooms x is covered entrance A double problem of vision and accommodation is solved In an interesting way in a fetish shrine at Aperade Nkwanta near Fumesa, Ashanti. The fetish Is housed in d small two-compar+ment \\ii\,.^(\e compartment hds the normal-height walls while the other has low walls about 2 feet high. The whole ts enclosed in a fence arranged in such a way as to allow space In front of the hut for adherents. Sketch of shrine at Apetade-Nkwanto near Fumesa. INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORTS 65 Worshipers sat in the enclosure, and faced the priest sitting outside the open sided part of the hut in which also was the fetish itself. When asked by an adherent to communicate a request, he would rise up, go inside and perform his office in full view of the assembly of worshippers but in a place apart. Those who planned this arrangement of hut, low walls and fence apparently did so with the purpose uppermost in their minds of accommodating the adhe- rents in a particular area, housing the fetish decently while making it possible for them to view the rites taking place'. Basically arrangements for music and dance at funerals in most tribal areas do not differ much from those for music and dance performances organised for their own sake except that in the case of funerals the principal structure is occupied by the bereaved family (and the family's donation table) while the others are occupied by sympathisers with whom are seated the music- ians. The space enclosed by the structure is reserved for the use of sympathisers making their way to sympathise with the bereaved and also for those who are taking part in the dancing. A: Bereaved family B: Sympathisers X: Music O: Dancers Nowadays for shelter it is common to see sheets of tarpaulfn stretched on 4" x 4" scantlings, but this is resorted to especially in large towns to save the trouble of having to go fetching for the palm branches of a now economically important plant. In villages it is sometimes a mark of prestige for some of the families can afford to supply the items without much trouble. At these funerals arrangements are made for large numbers of people and it is interesting to note that there is a lot of going and coming and even other 'side' activities take place but these do not in any way interfere with the main function of the gathering. INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORTS In conclusion one can say that the common advantages of most of the various arrangements are that there is no unpleasant crowding/ that lighting is not a problem and vision is entirely unhindered from any angle. On the other hand one can argue rightly that in most cases these places of performance are not meant to be permanent or that there is no attempt to make goings and comings orderly. The challenge here is that the conven- tional theatre is the solution to problems that have had to be surmounted over the centuries in a particular climatic and cultural area mainly European. Now with the efforts being made to interest the Ghanaian public in the life of the theatre it is perhaps necessary at this stage to take notice of some of the forms taken by such of our traditional performer- spectator arrangements as have managed to survive/ as a piece of good luck to be taken advantage of not just because they are traditional or that we have to replace all that has be±n borrowed from other cultures. because we do have gems of useful ideas and answers to some of our present- day problems, hidden in some of these arrangements and conveniences. Our duty, f feel is to look carefully into those aspects that have a bearing on the arrangements or accommodation of audiences/ examine their suitability and carry out further experiments which can help in the direction of evolving the theatre of tomorrow the architecture of which will suit not only our conditions but the sort of drama we produce. in this direction - (conscious or not), tn the Aggrey Memorial Chapel, Achimota, and the University Drama Studio in Accra, the latter shows, it seems, the influence of the pato form. I see a welcome experiment It is Finally, I think that this is not only a problem for those engaged in Drama Research alone, it must also be the business of those who have a say in the planning and provision of Recreational Halls, College Assembly Halls, Club Houses, Community Centres and Village Theatres to examine the probable causes and reasons for our traditional performer-spectator arrangements as they are and incorporate such ideas as are practicable in terms of modern architecture to achieve a theatre that is both sympathetic to, as well as uplifts, the productions of our performing arts. John Kedjanyi. • *"