The theatre has become a fertile ground on which development thrives. The modes of practice as seen is focused on the popular theatre of the community, participatory rural appraisal, and Augusto Boal’s ‘Forum Theatre’. From the projects I have examined, it can be clearly seen that the theatre can be really effective as a medium for development communication, conscientising the rural people and awakening communal participation in developmental projects. Thus through the theatre an effective two-way communication process is attained on the basis of genuine involvement on the part of programme initiators and the community at large.

There is no doubt the Theatre for Development has a potential for arousing people to think and act for themselves but the question that remains unsolved as I have gathered from an analysis of the projects is to what extent does Theatre For Development help in solving the problems of the rural community. The awareness is created, people are made conscious of their rights and problems, people are incited to take action but what is the role of Theatre For Development practitioners in dealing practically with the actual problems of the community. Since economic issues such as public finance can not be ruled out of any developmental project, whose responsibility is it to see to the implementation of the projects? Although the Laedza Batanani project had a considerable impact on the community and attracted wide interest, the performance and discussions led to very little action and there was very limited follow-up action of a collective nature. The question of funding to ensure the continuity of the projects also sets in. The Laedza Batananai committee managed to secure some amount of funding in 1976 to set up a national committee which helped to ensure the continuity of the projects and also to stimulate other Theatre For Development programmes in other parts of Botswana.

Theatre For Development has come very far indeed in terms of practice and experimentation yet many questions come up as to what should be an appropriate methodology and approach of the genre. It is clear the genre lags at the project implementation stage. There is therefore the need for a sustainable model which will seek to achieve the aims and objectives of Theatre For Development. This will certainly pose problems since behavioural and attitudinal  patterns differ from culture to culture. Irrespective of the culture in which Theatre For Development takes place and the types of approaches used, the enthusiasm and consciousness created amongst the community members must be sustained and the development efforts of the villagers will need to be supported.

In Ghana, the practice of Theatre For Extension Communication is academic based and rooted in the course content of the School Of Performing Arts. There is not much done to ensure that the programme is sustained. The project ends when the student directors have to continue with their tight academic schedule. Recent developments have revealed that the students now team up or seek for sponsorship from governmental and non-governmental organisations to undertake their projects. This is a positive approach  in that these organisations take up  some of the responsibility of project implementation. They have also realised the impact of Theatre For Extension Communication by getting involved in the projects and as such provide employment opportunities to the Theatre For Development Graduates of  the School Of Performing Arts, University Of Ghana, Legon. The Non-Formal Education unit and the National Theatre Of Ghana, have also absorbed graduates into their Theatre For Development campaign unit.

Finally, my view is that there is a need for enthusiastic research that would produce a clear-cut methodology that would meet the dynamic changing environment, ensure a forceful sustainability of the project proposals within the community and then define a viable follow-up process.