Let’s embrace theatre, performing arts to safeguard culture — Tourism Minister

The 2025 Ghana Theatre Festival has opened with a call on Ghanaians to embrace theatre and the performing arts as vital tools for safeguarding culture and driving national development.

Such an approach will help preserve the country’s traditions while creating opportunities for education, creativity, and social cohesion.

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, who made the call while declaring the festival open, explained that theatre went beyond entertainment and must be recognised as a channel for national progress.

“Theatre is a vital platform for storytelling, education, and cultural expression,” she said as she launched the week-long event on the theme: “Showcasing the Rich Diversity of Ghanaian Culture through Performing Arts”.

The event is expected to bring together actors, musicians, dancers, academics, students, and cultural stakeholders, united by a common mission to celebrate Ghana’s rich artistic traditions and project them to the world.

" This year’s edition will strengthen the promotion of Ghana’s heritage, while offering audiences world-class theatre experiences," the minister said.
She stressed that the event was also a space to celebrate Ghana’s artistic heritage, while adapting to the realities of globalisation and technological change.

Festival

The festival, which will end on Saturday, September 27, will feature workshops, symposia, and masterclasses designed to build capacity, nurture talent, and inspire collaboration among theatre practitioners.

For more than a decade, the Ghana Theatre Festival has served as one of the country’s flagship cultural events, providing a stage for local productions and encouraging dialogue on the role of the arts in society.

Artistic heritage

The Acting Executive Director of the National Theatre, Henry Herbert Malm, in his welcome remarks, described the festival as a space for creativity and cultural exchange. He commended the practitioners for their resilience and encouraged the audience to participate in the performances, workshops, and symposia planned for the week.

For her part, the Board Chair of the National Theatre, Amarteokor Amarteifio, highlighted the importance of innovation in sustaining the industry.

“In these six days of masterclasses, symposia, and performances, we must engage each other on how to pursue the recent agenda of the President to grow our industry. Our challenge will be to find ways of balancing technology and culture for our collective good,” she said.

She further acknowledged the contributions of Ghana’s theatre pioneers, paying tribute to Dr Mohammed Ben Abdallah, a key figure in the country’s theatre space who recently passed away.

A minute’s silence was observed in his honour.

Performances

The opening ceremony also featured a showcase of vibrant performances that reflected the diversity of Ghana’s creativity. Audiences enjoyed excerpts from Run for Your Wife by Image Bureau and April Communications; Sajii presented by the National Dance Company, Drama Company, National Symphony Orchestra and the Ghana Dance Ensemble in collaboration with the Institute of African Studies and the University of Ghana; G-Yard People by Banarackor Consult; and The Orature by the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana.