<P>Trickster Theatre traces the changing social significance of national theatre from its rise as an idealistic state project during independence through the revolutionary 1980s to its electronic adaptations in the neoliberal era. Jesse Weaver Shipley presents portraits of many key figures in Ghanaian theatre, describes theatre events and their political and social impact, and looks into the cultural conditions in which the Ghanaian theatre evolved. Tracing how performers, directors, culture workers, and playwrights developed theatre as a new form of critical public knowledge, Shipley shows how Ananse trickster storytelling traditions were repurposed in new contexts as expressions of national identity.</P>