Anansi by Alistair Campbell is a stage play about a young girl held captive aboard a slave ship bound for the Caribbean. A woman’s stories about Anansi, the clever spider of traditional tales, give the girl a source of comfort and help her develop resilience and wit. It is a play script, not a general collection of Anansi folklore.
What is the plot of Anansi?
The play frames its Anansi stories within the violence of the transatlantic slave trade. A terrified girl is confined in the hold of a ship travelling to the Caribbean. As a woman tells her stories about Anansi’s humorous tricks and cleverness, storytelling becomes a way for the girl to endure her circumstances and begin to respond with greater resilience.
The contrast between the girl’s captivity and the energy of the spider tales is central to the premise. The stories do not remove the danger around her; they offer imagination, comfort and a model of wit in the face of power.
Who is Anansi in the play?
Anansi is the trickster spider at the centre of the stories told to the girl. His cleverness and humour connect the play to Anansi storytelling traditions, while the frame story gives those tales a particular purpose: they help a child cope with fear and captivity.
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What is the play used for in schools?
Oxford University Press presents its Oxford Playscripts edition for use in a KS3 classroom or drama studio, aimed at ages 11–14. The publisher describes material intended to support performance and close analysis, including a 16-part cast, creative tasks, author insights and staging notes. These are features listed for that edition; they should not be assumed to appear in every printing.
There is also evidence of use in specific school settings: a 2024–2025 booklist from Success/Laventille Secondary School in Trinidad and Tobago includes the play in English Literature, and Guyana’s Grade 9 English B scheme includes it in a plot lesson. Those examples show use in those contexts, not a universal school requirement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which edition of Anansi should you use?
Several editions are recorded, and their page counts and contributor details do not fully align. Check the publisher and ISBN on the copy itself rather than relying on the title alone.
| Edition or record | Publisher and date | ISBN | Pages and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford Playscripts edition | Oxford University Press; date not stated in the publisher record | 9781408519998 | 72 pages; described for classroom or drama-studio use |
| Revised reprint | Stanley Thornes, 1999 | 9780748740611 | 76 pages; listed by Google Books |
| Earlier publication | Nelson, 1992 | 017432345X | Catalogue extent: vi, 62 pages; listed by the Open British National Bibliography |
| Second edition record | 2013; publisher not stated in the WorldCat record summarized here | not stated (WorldCat) | WorldCat names Alistair Campbell and Andy Kempe as authors; page count not stated |
For classroom work that depends on the Oxford Playscripts activities or staging notes, identify the Oxford edition by ISBN 9781408519998. For another copy, compare its edition statement, publisher, ISBN, page count and listed contributors: the catalogue records do not establish that all these editions contain the same material.
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