Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how theatre practitioners in Ghana generate, capture, and deliver value in a context of resource scarcity. Analyzing the business models of four theatre companies in Accra, we show how through their creative adaptation to resource paucity they make innovative theatre.

Paper long abstract:

Scholars and practitioners alike often treat art, including theatre, as distinct from commercial relationships, which can make it difficult to understand the commercial relationships that underlie art production. Theatre makers in Accra, Ghana face many challenges, key amongst them being funding and infrastructure. There is very little state support for the industry and few formal venues where plays can be staged. And yet, entrepreneurial theatre makers boldly confront these challenges to make theatre on their own terms and to determine their creative and commercial futures. In this paper, we examine four such theatre makers and the business models that underpin their endeavours. In our empirical study, we used the Business Model Canvas –a widely used tool in entrepreneurship studies, but rarely used in the study of creative business—to understand how theatre practitioners generate, capture, and deliver value. We find that in the case of Accra, the founder is the most important resource the businesses possess, as the companies often rely on the founder’s personal funds, family and friend networks, and reputational resources to operate. We show how the founders make decisions under difficult circumstances and how through their ability to adapt to resource scarcity they create innovative theatre. In this context, the Business Model Canvas is a useful methodological tool for opening discussions on the relationship between theatre and business. Thus, in this paper we make a methodological contribution in addition to an empirical contribution through explaining the functioning of Accra’s entrepreneurial theatre industry.