INTRODUCTION
An excerpt from the narrative on the 2D animation on “The Story of Asebu Amenfi the Giant” reads:
“The Asebu Kingdom, located in the Central Region of Ghana, was believed to have been founded thousands of years ago by an Egyptian Giant named Asebu Amenfi. Asebu Amenfi was the army leader who led the Egyptian army in the pursuit of the freed Israelites in the Exodus. Though his troop drowned in the Red Sea, he survived but could not go back to Egypt for fear of the Pharaoh’s reaction. So, he fled with his family across Lake Chad to the coastal belt of present-day Ghana.
As a warrior of incredible strength and imposing stature, he also possessed spiritual powers that enabled him to accomplish feats ordinary men could not, and he wielded a sword in his conquests. He fought and won many battles in the Fante enclave, thereby expanding Asebu's territory. His fingers, feet and body left indelible prints on objects he came into contact with, including rocks. He could bore holes in rocks by merely touching them with his bare fingers. To date, a rock he often sat on bears the impressions of his buttocks, testicles and fingerprints. He had a rock he ripped open like a drawer to keep his belongings in and pushed back to cover the opening afterwards. He used his fingers to drill holes in two small rocks, which he used as “firkyiwa” (castanets) for his musical enjoyment. As a voracious eater with a good appetite for corn, he was always ensured satisfaction by his sister Amenfiwaa. There were many times when Amenfiwaa had to add some gravel to the corn to meet the required quantity that could satisfy her brother Amenfi.
Anytime Asebu Amenfi embarks on any trip, he carries a corn barn on his head with his sister in it, roasting corn constantly to feed him. He is the embodiment of the Asebu Kingdom. After several years of his existence, the powerful Giant disappeared mysteriously. However, his foot, fingerprints, rock drawer, sword and walking stick, as well as other artefacts he used, still exist today as relics and cultural heritage for the people of Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese in the Central Region of Ghana, West Africa. (Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)”
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theatrical Review
Theatre refers to the comprehensive and creative process of staging performances such as drama, dance or music, among others, aimed at presenting a story to an audience, using either live performers or inanimate figures (Barker and Reed, 2025). This paper reviewed related literature on African theatre, folklore, rituals, folktales and theatre in general. This helped corroborate the existing scholarship and advanced the new perspective.
Dramatic Elements:
Betti (2015) argues that Aristotle, in his Poetics, defines tragedy as an imitation, through action rather than narration, of a serious, complete, and ample action, by means of language rendered pleasant at different places in the constituent parts by each of the aids, in which imitation there is also affected through pity and fear its catharsis of these and similar emotions. He further postulates that the tragedy must have six elements which should determine its quality: plot, character and thought. Betti (2015) also discusses what the tragedy proposes to achieve through an imitation, spectacle, which deals with the beauty and aesthetics of a performance, diction – the language or choice of words in the play and lastly music, which also deals with sound and its effects. Therefore, these six elements: plot, character, thought/theme, spectacle, diction and music come together to form the dramatic structure of a theatrical piece.
Folktales from Theatrical Perspective:
According to Asiedu (1999), in Researching Ghanaian Theatre Reflections on Process, she categorically stated that “we may be strong on making theatre, on theatre practices, but alongside theatre practice, we need theatre scholarship, and this is where we researchers on Ghanaian theatre come in”. She went further to state that: “indeed, our research is useless if we do not put down our findings for others to read”. This is the primary purpose of this paper. This paper chronicles the story of Asebu Amenfi the Giant from the Ghanaian theatre perspective through a theatrical lens.
Mohammed (1987) further supported this narrative by stating that: “it’s time for African playwrights to set their own standards richly drawing from their own cultural heritage, history and the totality of the African experience to create the criteria for judging our own work” (pg. iv).
The Asebu Amenfi the Giant Animation documented the mythical character without compromising the authenticity of the story or folktale with cultural facts and narrative from the Asebu Traditional Council. Agovi (1991:73) also agreed with this assertion by stating the “possibilities of liberating the African theatre from its fixation in European form”.
Amponsah (2013) also contends that African theatre researchers must refrain from writing to suit the colonialist narrative, and instead chronicle what reflects African cultural values, folktales, rituals, storytelling sessions, etc.; this realisation and rediscovery will soon result in a narrative. Agovi (1988) earlier argued this point a long time ago;
Emphasise the unity of African peoples, the common elements in the cultural ideas, values and practices, the common historical experiences, values and practices (1988:71).
This implies that if African theatre documentation does not reflect African society and its people, it may not be charting the course of creating theatre from an African perspective, as argued by Amponsah (2013).
Mda (1993) expanded this assertion by stating that even though contemporary African theatre practitioners need to be aware of the need to evolve an authentic African theatre, it should be a theatre which would be relevant to the whole community and its people.
Abdallah (1987), in proposing a solution to African theatre practitioners, stated that:
It is time African playwrights set our own standards richly drawing from our own cultural heritage, our history and the totality of the African experience (1987: iv).
This statement suggests that African theatre must be based on the rich cultural heritage, history and the totality of its people’s experience. This includes rituals, music, folklore, etc.
Folktales:
Folktales are full of moral lessons for kids and the people of any society. Therefore, researchers must document such tales for their potent educational and conscientization purposes to the community.
According to Asante (2005):
Folktale is a universal ageless genre of traditional stories of a communal society which are passed down to its younger generation, … Like a cherished property of a communal society, hence they are held in trust by an entire membership of societies who are themselves the custodian for the many who have come and gone, and the ones living and the many yet unborn, … Folktale is not bound by continent or civilisation, because its story types are about everyday life of struggling to survive, which is the norm in both simple and sophisticated societies as well as the great and small nations. (2005:102-103).
Asante (2005) reaffirms that every cultural society has its typical folktale hero, and Asebu Amenfi the Giant is the folktale hero in the Asebu kingdom. Martin (1988) also asserts that storytelling falls under the traditional, informal, spontaneous activity found in villages and towns, which can be seen as a subset of folklore. Crowley (1971) describes the relationship between folklore and theatre in relation to Africa. Crowley (1971) states that:
folklore is not literature, but theatre, and baldly needs to be considered in this light, especially the context both actual and cultural, the relationship of performer and audience. Once more, this great work can only be done by Africans, who in this way can open their vast and still virtually unknown treasure house of narrative art for the appreciation of the entire world (Pg 15).
Theoretical Framework
This study is grounded in John Dewey’s Instrumentalism Theory (1934). Dewey propounds ‘Art as an experience’, implying that art is not valued by virtue of its pretty look, but is valuable for what it does; the experience it creates and the impact or effect it has on people’s lives. This rates or prioritises the functionality of an art piece over its aesthetic appeal. In the case of the 2D animation on Asebu Amenfi the Giant, the functionality of the work can be categorised into cultural, educational, social and accessibility.
2.2.1 Cultural Function: This criterion explores whether the content of the animation preserves and transmits the traditional hero (Asebu Amenfi the Giant)’s legacy, community’s values and history to a new audience. This owes to the fact that every community has some cultural values and morals passed to younger generations through various forms such as oral tradition, including storytelling (Mphasha, 2015). These serve as a form of education through entertainment aimed at preserving the cultural values and identity, traditional ethics and standards that mould character, behaviour and attitude (Sone, 2018).
2.2.2 Educational Function: This criterion probes the knowledge it shares. It explores whether it teaches viewers about tradition, ethics, or history to a new audience. Aside from the content, the medium used (animation), being an audiovisual, is an important tool for educating, disseminating information and entertainment, according to the Cultural Policy of Ghana (2004).
2.2.3 Social Function: The social function aspect considers relatability and possibilities of shared experience. The animation plays a social role by modelling or reinforcing social standards like courage, selflessness, service, patriotism, sacrifice and heroism over individualism. It also functions socially by archiving the story of Asebu Amenfi in a medium children can easily consume (animation), thereby preventing cultural amnesia. It gives Ghanaian children local reference points in terms of heroes and builds pride and shared identity because the animation serves the audience local/indigenous elements and symbols to identify with, hence creating social solidarity.
2.3.4 Accessibility: It enquires if the format makes the traditional story easy to share or distribute to people. As advocated by the Cultural Policy of Ghana (2004), important historical records in various communities’ possession should be preserved and made accessible to researchers and the public. In the case of the animation, it is a multimedia (audiovisual) format that can be accessed electronically using a mobile phone, computer/laptop or video-playing devices. In terms of distribution, digital content of this nature is fast and easily circulated with the aid of electronic devices, social media platforms and the internet facility (Parekh, 2025). It can also be shared between people at close range using Bluetooth connectivity or media transfer using a pen drive and other devices.
METHODOLOGY
This qualitative inquiry was underpinned by the theory of Instrumentalism (John Dewey, 1934) and the interpretivist constructivist paradigm, which opines that knowledge and reality are socially constructed, and therefore can best be understood from the perspective of society under study, or in the context of social phenomena (Rehman and Alharthi, 2016; Turin et al., 2024). It adopted a single-case study as a design, for which one sample, being the ‘2D animation on the story of Asebu Amenfi the Giant’, was selected from a secondary source using a purposive sampling technique. The material population, being the animation, was selected on purpose based on predetermined knowledge of its subject matter (Cohen et al., 2007; Taherdoost, 2016; Hassan, 2024). All data, such as scholarly write-ups, animated video and illustrations (images), were collected from secondary sources, including library searches, and were further subjected to content analysis as a data analysis plan.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
This study decodes the theatrical elements codified in the Asebu Amenfi the Giant animation from a dramaturgical perspective, providing insightful interpretations through both dramaturgical and mythological lenses. The identified performance elements include storyline/plot, characters, setting, costume, props, sound effects and lighting.
Storyline
The plot is the arrangement of incidents that take place in a play (Prince and Jackson, 2005). In drama, the storyline is referred to as plot and vice versa. The plot of Asebu Amenfi the Giant begins from where he was born and grew up somewhere in Egypt, his prowess on the battlefields, his defeat and eventually, his migration to the present kingdom, Asebu, Ghana. This tells the story of a mythical supernatural human Giant; his struggles, victories, defeats and his mysterious vanishing from the surface of the earth to date. According to Aristotle’s Poetics, plot is the most important element of all the constituents (Betti, 2015). It is the arrangement of the incidents in a dramatic piece. It has a beginning, a middle and an end.
According to Betti (2015), Aristotle further argues that the aim of the plot is catharsis, which arouses a double feeling of pity and fear on the part of the audience. The audience must empathise with the protagonist, in this case, Asebu Amenfi the Giant. This is the story of a Giant who was feared by many, fought and won battles and was finally defeated. This development led him to flee his country to establish the Asebu kingdom in the Central Region of Ghana. After years of a successful reign, this supernatural hero suddenly mysteriously vanished from the surface of the earth without the knowledge of anybody or a heroic send-off in his honour. To date, no one knows his whereabouts.
Schanker and Ommanney (1989) also argued that the plot of the play is the series of events that take place before the audience. They further argued that a well-constructed play can be diagrammed by steps of varying heights going up to a turning point, which is then followed by steps going down.
Character(s)
The driving forces that move the storyline of the Asebu Amenfi the Giant mythology are characters. Characters are the human figures or entities that drive the actions or plot of the story of the mythical character Asebu Amenfi the Giant. As such, characters are the people in a text. Prince & Jackson (2005) also argued that the plot of a play is carried out through the action and dialogue of personalities or figures called characters.
The characters in this animation include Asebu Amenfi the Giant; he is the protagonist of the myth told in the Asebu Amenfi community. His sister, Amenfiwaa and the warriors on the battlefield are secondary characters, while the warriors of the other communities he conquered, as well as the challenges (loss of his troops in the exodus, his exile, among others) he faced serve as antagonists. As justified in Aristotle's Poetics, characters are the kinds of men being presented in a piece, and Betti (2015) further argues that since tragedy is an imitation of action and is for that reason principally concerned with characters in action.
Protagonist
Asebu Amenfi the Giant (Figure 1) is the main character or protagonist of the story. He was a supernatural being who could shoot fire flames from his mouth and bore holes in rocks with his bear figures (Figure 2). His buttocks, testicles, foot and fingerprints are engraved on a rock (Figure 3) in the Asebu community to date, which forms part of their cultural heritage and identity. He could rip open a rock with his hand like a drawer and keep his belongings there and push it back to cover afterwards.
He also uses his fingers to drill holes in rocks, which he used as “firkyiwa” – a traditional music instrument he used for entertainment in Ghana. He had a good appetite for corn. So, anytime he embarked on a trip, he carried a corn barn on his head with his sister Amenfiwaa in it, roasting corn constantly to feed him (Figure 4). He could use his hand to pick up or lift about five to six people in his palm at once (Figure 5). He established the Asebu kingdom and vanished mysteriously to date; nobody knows his whereabouts.
Figure 1: An animated portrait of Asebu Amenfi the Giant
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)
Figure 2: Asebu Amenfi shooting fire flames from mouth, with eyes blazing like fire
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)
Figure 3: The foot, testicles, buttocks and fingerprints of Asebu Amenfi engraved in Rock at Asebu Community
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)
Figure 4: Asebu Amenfi carrying his sister Amenfiwaa in a corn barn, preparing his food on a trip
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)
Figure 5: Asebu Amenfi picking/lifting many people in his palm
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)
The above records tell the story of how powerful and patriotic Asebu Amenfi was towards his community, both physically and spiritually. This is in congruence with Schanker and Ommanney's (1989) opinion that characters in a play must be vivid and varied in personality, with dominant traits clearly brought out in their speeches and actions, and that is cleverly demonstrated in the Asebu Amenfi the Giant’s animation.
According to Aristotle:
The tragic hero is a man of much glory and good fortune who is not too superior in excellence and uprightness and yet does not come into his misfortune because of baseness and rascality but through some inadequacy or positive fault. In other words, the downfall of a tragic hero should not be caused by evil, but by hamartia (error). Tragic flaws suggest imperfection of character, rather than a mistake of action. Shakespeare's tragic heroes often manifest a flawed character, i.e. jealousy in Othello (1604), 'hesitation' in Hamlet, 'illegal ambition' in Macbeth (1616), etc.Betti(2015).
Supporting Character
Amenfiwaa is the sister of Asebu Amenfi in the mythology. Amenfiwaa can be likened to a supporting character in a dramaturgical sense or lens. She always makes sure her brother, Asebu Amenfi,is satisfied with food to carry out his duties as a warrior. She served as a dedicated sister who supported her brother to actively and effectively play his role as a community leader and warrior.
Figure 6: Asebu Amenfi the Giant with his sister Amenfiwaa
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)
Other Characters (Extras)
Warriors are the men on the battlefield engaging Asebu Amenfi in combat. This battlefield engagement gives Asebu Amenfi a platform to exhibit his skills as a great warrior of the time as he defeats his adversaries. The battlefield confrontations also led to his defeat (Figure 7-9), which eventually resulted in his migration to the present-day Asebu kingdom in the Central Region of Ghana. This gives the audience the battlefield ambience, mood, tone and scene. The audience does not have to imagine the confrontations because the animator took care of that by giving a visual representation of the tension/conflict.
Figure 7: Asebu Amenfi crossing the Red Sea to a battlefield with his entourage
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)
Figure 8: Asebu Amenfi with his troop prepping towards battle
(Image Courtesy: Nkrumah-Abraham, 2022)