Our princes are in borrowed robes: An exploration of expressed costume choices in the works of three Ghanaian playwrights

Abstract

The playwright’s work remains the blueprint upon which all other theatre artists build their craft. This positions playwrights as indispensable artists in theatrical discourse. While some playwrights express specific costume choices in their texts, others leave it to theatre directors and designers to decipher appropriate costumes for the plays. The former suggests a stylistic feature by some playwrights; however, less visibility appears to be given to this phenomenon in Ghanaian theatre scholarship. Thus, this study focuses on the rationale, significance, and implications of expressed costume choices for costume designers and playwrights. Employing a qualitative approach, this paper samples three Ghanaian playwright educators and their costume choices and examines the dramatic significance of their choices. The findings of the study revealed that the rationale for expressing costume choices was to project major characters. The need to create special characters and impressions and how to navigate a path with scene changes also influenced character costume choices. The significance of costume choices was to project a rich tapestry of cultural identity and characters and enforce themes, while the implications of such costume choices were to support costumiers, make issues easier for them and the playwright, and encourage them to be more creative. With a treasure trove of findings, the study concludes that expressing costume choices for characters by playwrights was not done in a vacuum but thrived on the inspiring tenets of playwrights.