Hubert Ogunde
Encyclopedia
Oloye Hubert Adedeji Ogunde (May 31, 1916 in Ososa, near Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State
, Nigeria
– April 4, 1990 in London, England) was a Nigerian actor
, playwright
, theatre manager, and musician
who founded the Ogunde Concert Party in (1945), the first professional theatrical company in Nigeria.
Ogunde starred in Mister Johnson
, the 1990 motion picture which also featured Pierce Brosnan
. The movie was shot on location in Jos
.
, The Garden of Eden and The Throne of God, by commission of the Lagos
-based Church of the Lord, a sect of the Cherubim and Seraphim Society
. The performance was in aid of the Church building fund. The huge success of the production spurred Ogunde on to writing more operas until he decided to leave his amateur status as an artist and turn professional. He founded Ogunde Theatre — the first contemporary professional company in Nigeria. By this act Ogunde began the rise of modern professional theatre in Nigeria, a movement in which he remains the supreme artist and father figure.
He is regarded as the first Doyen in Traditional Nigerian Drama.
The rule was that:
“When someone wants to celebrate a marriage or a funeral obsequies (sic) she chooses a piece of cloth to wear on the occasion and approaches relatives and friends to buy the same stuff to wear with her as uniform on the day. The number of people to wear the uniform with her will depend on her popularity and social connections.
“The custom has lent itself to much abuse in that the occasions for celebrating marriages of funerals occur so often that one may be asked by friends to buy ‘Aso Ebi’ more than ten times a year”.
This craze of course bred intense competition with celebrants trying to outshine one another. It was a competition that delighted textile traders but which often ruined marriages, as women were known to leave husbands who could not afford to robe them, for lovers who could. Ogunde decided to make his first social satirical comment by writing a play designed to expose the vulgarity and ostentatiousness of the craze. He called the play Human parasites. A tragedy in two acts commenting that ‘Aso Ebi is a Social evil…
Aduke who kissed and keyed a thousand lovers for the sake of Aso Ebi… what happened when boys refused to be keyed is better seen than described”
He also produced two important plays: Yoruba Ronu and Otitokoro which refer to the political events in the western Nigeria and which led to the declaration of the state of emergency in 1963. He was the most prominent of the dramatist of the folk opera.
He composed over 40 operas in Yoruba. His play Yoruba Ronu(Yoruba Think) was a satirical account of the strife that plagued Yorubas in the 1960s. It was banned in western Nigeria for sometime but was produced with great success in other parts of the country.
His other plays include; Darkness and Light, Mr. Devil's Money. e.t.c. He utilized the commercial repertoire of Yoruba theatre, frequently using both European instrument and drums in his plays and he married ALL the actresses in other to keep the group together. And his theatre also because of his various tours, became Alarinjo, a traveling theatre
Ogunde became the leading producer of Yoruba celluloid movies with "J'ayesinmi" (Let the world rest) and "Aiye" (Life!)blazing the trail.
Oguntimirin died in a road accident on September 1970 en-route to a scheduled performance in Ilesha. The following year, Ogunde wrote a play in her memory called Ayanmo. Her death was mourned throughout the country and press and mass media coverage of her death and funeral was extensive.
Ogunde died on April 4, 1990 at London
's Cromwell Hospital
following a brief illness.
A portrait of Ogunde hangs in the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos
.
Ogun State
Ogun State is a state in South-western Nigeria. It borders Lagos State to the South, Oyo and Osun states to the North, Ondo State to the east and the republic of Benin to the west. Abeokuta is the capital and largest city in the state...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
– April 4, 1990 in London, England) was a Nigerian actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, theatre manager, and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
who founded the Ogunde Concert Party in (1945), the first professional theatrical company in Nigeria.
Ogunde starred in Mister Johnson
Mister Johnson
Mister Johnson is a 1990 American drama film based on the 1939 novel by Joyce Cary. The film was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival, where Maynard Eziashi won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.The film was shot in Toro, Nigeria...
, the 1990 motion picture which also featured Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
. The movie was shot on location in Jos
Jos
Jos is a city in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.The city has a population of about 1.5 million residents. Popularly called "J-town" or "Jesus Our Saviour" by the residents, it is the administrative capital of Plateau State....
.
Background
He worked first as a teacher before joining the Nigerian Police Force. Like many of his theatre contemporaries, such as A. B. David, P. A. Dawodu, Layeni and G.T. Onimole, his theatre career began under the patronage of the Church. In 1944, he produced his first operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, The Garden of Eden and The Throne of God, by commission of the Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
-based Church of the Lord, a sect of the Cherubim and Seraphim Society
Cherubim and Seraphim Society
The Cherubim and Seraphim Society is a Christian denomination from Nigeria. It was founded by Abiodun Akinsowon Emmanuel as a split from the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim...
. The performance was in aid of the Church building fund. The huge success of the production spurred Ogunde on to writing more operas until he decided to leave his amateur status as an artist and turn professional. He founded Ogunde Theatre — the first contemporary professional company in Nigeria. By this act Ogunde began the rise of modern professional theatre in Nigeria, a movement in which he remains the supreme artist and father figure.
He is regarded as the first Doyen in Traditional Nigerian Drama.
Professional theatre work
The first play featured at Ogunde Theatre was entitled Tiger’s Empire. Premiered on March 4, 1946, Tiger's Empire was produced by The African Music Research Party and featured Ogunde, Beatrice Oyede and Abike Taiwo. The advertisement for the play was the result of Ogunde’s call for ‘paid actresses’. It marked the first time in Yoruba theatre that women were billed to appear in a play as professional artists in Light in their own right. Tiger’s Empire was an attack on colonial rule. It was followed by Darkness and Light, although Ogunde does not remember writing it. This is the only play that has escaped his memory. A public outcry had been going on for a year over the growth of a ‘social evil’ which was entering into Lagos society and corroding it. This evil was popularly known as the ‘Aso Ebi Craze’, a craze which required both men and women to buy the most expensive materials for social gatherings.The rule was that:
“When someone wants to celebrate a marriage or a funeral obsequies (sic) she chooses a piece of cloth to wear on the occasion and approaches relatives and friends to buy the same stuff to wear with her as uniform on the day. The number of people to wear the uniform with her will depend on her popularity and social connections.
“The custom has lent itself to much abuse in that the occasions for celebrating marriages of funerals occur so often that one may be asked by friends to buy ‘Aso Ebi’ more than ten times a year”.
This craze of course bred intense competition with celebrants trying to outshine one another. It was a competition that delighted textile traders but which often ruined marriages, as women were known to leave husbands who could not afford to robe them, for lovers who could. Ogunde decided to make his first social satirical comment by writing a play designed to expose the vulgarity and ostentatiousness of the craze. He called the play Human parasites. A tragedy in two acts commenting that ‘Aso Ebi is a Social evil…
Aduke who kissed and keyed a thousand lovers for the sake of Aso Ebi… what happened when boys refused to be keyed is better seen than described”
He also produced two important plays: Yoruba Ronu and Otitokoro which refer to the political events in the western Nigeria and which led to the declaration of the state of emergency in 1963. He was the most prominent of the dramatist of the folk opera.
He composed over 40 operas in Yoruba. His play Yoruba Ronu(Yoruba Think) was a satirical account of the strife that plagued Yorubas in the 1960s. It was banned in western Nigeria for sometime but was produced with great success in other parts of the country.
His other plays include; Darkness and Light, Mr. Devil's Money. e.t.c. He utilized the commercial repertoire of Yoruba theatre, frequently using both European instrument and drums in his plays and he married ALL the actresses in other to keep the group together. And his theatre also because of his various tours, became Alarinjo, a traveling theatre
Personal life and legacy
Clementina Oguntimirin later married Chief Ogunde and became Adesewa Ogunde or Mama Eko (Lagos Mama) as she was popularly known by her fans in the 60’s, after taking the leading part in the popular play of that name. She had five children for him. The two senior girls Tokunbo and Tope are now leading members of the company.Ogunde became the leading producer of Yoruba celluloid movies with "J'ayesinmi" (Let the world rest) and "Aiye" (Life!)blazing the trail.
Oguntimirin died in a road accident on September 1970 en-route to a scheduled performance in Ilesha. The following year, Ogunde wrote a play in her memory called Ayanmo. Her death was mourned throughout the country and press and mass media coverage of her death and funeral was extensive.
Ogunde died on April 4, 1990 at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Cromwell Hospital
Cromwell Hospital
The Cromwell Hospital is a private sector hospital located in the South Kensington area of London. The hospital was founded on 29 April 1981. The Cromwell Hospital has at various times been owned by the Bank of Credit & Commerce International and the Abu Dhabi royal family.The footballer George...
following a brief illness.
A portrait of Ogunde hangs in the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos
National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos
The National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos is a major art gallery in Lagos, the largest city of Nigeria. It is a permanent exhibition of the National Gallery of Art, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation...
.