Resident theatre company of the School of Performing Arts in the University of Ghana, Abibigromma has launched its 40th Anniversary on 27th March, 2023 at the ETS Drama Studio at the University of Ghana.
The launch featured artistic performance by students and members of the group as well as speeches from key personalities of high importance to the group.
Artistic Director of the Abibigromma group, Dr Ekuah Ekumah shared the company’s experience while visiting past Artistic Directors.
According to her, the visit enlightened them on the intriguing history of the group in the last 40 years and how it strived to be a relevant performing group in Ghana.
“When we went to visit our past artistic directors, it was such an enlightening and enriching activity that we did, because we’re beginning to see the real stories, and the stories of Abibigromma are living within our artistic director and past members who belongs to the company who know the history of the company, to the place where we are today. When we visited members, it was very heartwarming that every one of them spoke particularly about a certain energy that comes with becoming a member of Abibigromma,” she said.
Oh Nii Kwei Sowah, former Artistic Director of the Abibigromma company who took over office in 1989 also shared the difficulties the group encountered in its growth in the past years.
He also described time spent in the group as wonderful.
“[In] 1983 just like 2003 hard times, Abibigromma was founded, it was a really rough time, and their selection was based on commitment. You can be whoever you are, if you are not committed, you are not disciplined, you will not be selected for the Abibigromma mission. Those times we’ll walk from here to the drama studio in Accra. And it wasn’t that easy. We had to beg for food to keep the group going. But then it was a wonderful time. And as I speak today, I say, those of us who went through that wrote our own testimonials. That commitment has yielded great things for us.”
Oh Nii Kwei Sowah also gave some words of motivation to the students of the school of performing arts.
He urged them to challenge themselves in life by setting high limits for themselves in their endeavors.
“If you are a student of the performing arts, you are visionary, you are seeing way beyond younger people who want to go through life to report as you do your analysis before the performance. You are way up above everybody. So about the sky. The sky is not the limit. Race on race on the fly. Fly the sky is just the beginning. The beyond is our yearning. The beyond is our goal. That beyond is our goal but beyond is our goal. So above the sky, The sky is not the limit. Race on Abibigromma.”
Abibigromma the resident theatre company of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana was established in May, 1983 to promote the art culture of Ghana and Africa through various theatre performances inspired by the traditions and literature of Ghana and Africa.
Abibigromma derives its name from two African words: Abibiman (Africa) and Agromma (players). The name also contains the concept of Abibigro, which loosely translated, means “African Theatre”.
