Stories from the Ghanaian Coast

Theater | Lecture performance in German, Fante and English with English surtitles

An international collaboration between fringe ensemble, Bonn, and the Department of Music and Dance at the University of Cape Coast

Stories told by locals on the Ghanaian coast are often about fishing, processing and selling fish. No wonder, as fish is the main source of food for large parts of the population and traditional fishing is the livelihood of around ten percent of the people who live here. For a long time, the Ghanaian coast was one of the richest fishing waters in Africa. However, the country now has to import protein-rich food from abroad – for its own population, who can hardly afford the high prices, if at all.

The lives of local Ghanaian fishermen have become precarious. In addition to overfishing by international companies, the consequences of environmental pollution and the climate crisis threaten their existence. Storm surges and rising sea levels are destroying their living and working space.

“Stories from the Ghanaian Coast” lets the indigenous fishermen and their families have their say. In the fishermen’s songs, which they sing during their work, especially when hauling in the nets, they talk about their current situation, their life on and from the sea.

Frank Heuel and Annika Ley first developed the play “Listen to the Fischers” in Cape Coast with an ensemble of Ghanaian actors, musicians and local fishermen. The collected stories, the fishermen’s songs and the videos shot by Annika Ley form the basis for the lecture performance in Bonn, as the theme goes beyond the fishing beach of Cape Coast. Frank Heuel is staging the evening with a German-Ghanaian ensemble.

Fotos: Claudia Grönemeyer | Juni2025: Claudia Gyasi Nimako, David Fischer, K. DANSO

Premiere
20. Dezember 2024
21. Dezember 2024
Theater im Ballsaal, Bonn

27. Juni 2025
28. Juni 2025
Theater im Ballsaal, Bonn

08. November 2025
09. November 2025
Theater im Ballsaal, Bonn

07. Februar 2026
08. Febuar 2026
Theater im Ballsaal, Bonn

Mit: Claudia Gyasi Nimako, David Fischer, K. DANSO
Regie: Frank Heuel
Ausstattung, Video, Kostüme: Annika Ley
Assistenz: Lutz Ackermann
Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit: Claudia Grönemeyer
Projektmanagement: Svenja Pauka

“Frank Heuel and Annika Ley traveled […] to Ghana. Their destination: Cape Coast, a city on the Gulf of Guinea, which is not only Bonn’s twin city in terms of climate and culture, but also one of the country’s most important university cities. There, together with Ghanaian artists, they created a play that delves deep into the lives of the local fishermen. […] The fringe ensemble is now showing video recordings of this as well as texts and songs in a lecture performance. It is a mixture of ethnographic research, ecological snapshot and aesthetic research. An educational piece without intrusive admonition. But with impressive images and a musical drive that brings the stories and explanations very close.”
Elisabeth-Einecke Klövekorn, General-Anzeiger Bonn

funded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Bonn