Forum Theatre as Participatory Research in Oral Heritage Communities: Evidence from Asebu, Ghana

This paper examines Forum Theatre as a participatory research methodology for engaging oral heritage communities, drawing on evidence from a nine-month fieldwork study in the Asebu Traditional Area of the Central Region of Ghana. Grounded in qualitative, interpretivist research within the historical-case study design, the study employed in-depth interviews, participant observation, and participatory performance practice across 18 communities. The paper argues that Forum Theatre offers a culturally congruent methodology for accessing, documenting, and revitalising oral heritage in communities where knowledge transmission relies on embodied and performative traditions. Findings reveal that Forum Theatre created democratic spaces for community dialogue, enabled the recovery of fragmented oral narratives about the cultural hero Amenfi, and fostered critical consciousness among community members regarding the value of their intangible cultural heritage. The study demonstrates that conventional interview- based methods alone are insufficient for capturing the performative, affective, and communal dimensions of oral heritage, and that Forum Theatre bridges the gap between
research extraction and community empowerment. Participant voices illuminate how the methodology facilitated the re-
engagement of elders and youth with oral traditions threatened by formal education, foreign religion, and urbanisation. The paper contributes to debates on decolonising research methodologies in African contexts and offers a replicable
framework for participatory heritage research.