Ola Rotimi
Encyclopedia
Olawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, best known as Ola Rotimi regarded as one of Nigeria
's leading playwright
s and theatre directors.
steam-launch engineer (a successful director and producer of amateur theatricals) and Dorcas Adolae Oruene Addo an Ijaw drama enthusiast. He was born in Sapele, Nigeria
.; cultural diversity
was a recurring theme in his work. He attended St. Cyprians School in Port Harcourt from 1945 to 1949, St Jude's School, Lagos
from 1951 to 1952 and the Methodist Boys High School in Lagos before traveling to the United States in 1959 to study at Boston University
where he obtained a B.A in fine art
s'. In 1965, he married Hazel Mae Guadreau originally from Gloucester
; Hazel also studied at Boston University
where she majored in opera
, voice and music education
. In 1966 he obtained an M.A.
from Yale School of Drama
, where he earned the distinction of being a Rockefeller Foundation
scholar in Playwriting and Dramatic Literature.
and Yale
, respectively.
) and Port Harcourt. Owing, in part, to political conditions in Nigeria, Rotimi spent much of the 1990s living in the Caribbean and the United States
, where he taught at Macalester College
in St. Paul, Minnesota
. In 2000 he returned to Ile-Ife
, joining the faculty of Obafemi Awolowo University
where he lectured till his demise. Sadly, Hazel (his wife) died in May 2000, only a couple of months before his own death.
His later dramas include The Gods Are Not to Blame (produced 1968; published 1971), a retelling adaptation of the Oedipus
myth in imaginative verse; Kurunmi and the Prodigal (produced 1969; published as Kurunmi, 1971), written for the second Ife Festival of Arts; Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (produced 1971; published 1974), about the last ruler of the Benin empire; and Holding Talks (1979).
Later plays, such as If: A Tragedy of the Ruled (1983) and Hopes of the Living Dead (1988), premiered at the University of Port Harcourt
and was a common play in OAU Drama department. The radio play
Everyone His/Her Own Problem was broadcast in 1987. His book African Dramatic Literature: To Be or to Become? was published in 1991.
Ola Rotimi a patriot, who shunned the attraction of the West and Europe and returned home to contribute his own quota to nation building
, was a rare breed. Diminutive in size but a giant in drama in Africa, he was one of the best things that could have happened to the literary community.
His dream of directing a play of 5000 cast member
s materialized at the Amphi Africa Theater when he was being put to rest as the crowd was drawn to a manuscript of the day's program outline. People made dramatic entry and exit to the stage around his casket with the man turning his casket.
Rotimi spent the second half of his last creative decade reworking two of his plays: Man talk, Woman talk and also Tororo, Tororo, Roro and the result, yet unpublished as at the time of his death in 2002, have now been published under the title, The Epilogue. The two plays were probably meant to be an epilogue to both Rotimi’s theatrical and comic careers which stretch the entire spectrum of his career.
It is comical and the language is a version of ‘Nigerian English’ and thus we have ‘Se you get?’ ‘I called God on him’ …
The works are also a social satire and this publication will spur renewed interest in his satires. Rotimi is sure to be remembered as a model in the literary genre
whose views have shaped the conduct of the theater and whose plays have demonstrated the power of drama to shape the thinking of the society and attempted to solve some of the problems encountered in everyday living.
Here Rotimi depicts the cocoa farmer and businessman Lejoka-Brown as a self-seeking, opportunistic leader who could make better contributions to his country outside of the political arena.
An adaptation of the Greek Classic, Oedipus Rex; the main character gets trapped by pride, ignorance and the caprices of the divinities.
In Ovonramven Nogbaisi, the title character simply luxuriates in the grandeur of his office. Although he is a custodian of culture who inspires people, he does not actively participate in their struggles.
In If:..., the young firebrand Hamidu is nowhere to be found when a real commitment is required
In Hopes of The Living Dead, Rotimi depicts a different kind of leader. Here we have a selfless, result-oriented, committed leadership complemented by a followership that believes in the good of the generality of its members through the application of itself to the cause that is beneficial.
The Epilogue: Two unpublished plays of Ola Rotimi
Man talk, Woman talk is humorous, as quintessential comedies from the author can be. He makes use of wry humour to seek a level playing ground for resolution of the biases men and women nurse about one another and which affect mutual co-existence of the two. The scene is a court though devoid of the usual technicalities of court rooms. Instead of legal jargon, there is humor, arguments and counter arguments. What the author arrives at is not to prove which gender is superior but to show the complementary roles of men and women. There is a great deal of wit in the work and the setting here is the university environment where the youthful contenders are idealistic.
Tororo, Tororo, Roro is a coincidental meeting of two fellows from
Man talk, Woman talk, Tunji Oginni and Philomena James. Both run Hotel Kilimanjaro with different motives and a chance meeting by both of them elicits lessons as both share each other’s problems.
in Hackney
, London
in 2005. Femi Elufowoju (Jr) had his first theatre experience in 1975, at the age of 11, when he saw a revival of this very play, performed in a reconstructed Greek amphitheatre at a university campus in Ife; and brought it to the UK shores as a British leading theatre director under the company name Tiata Fahodzi
His last production was a staging of Man talk Woman talk at the French Institute in Lagos, Nigeria
. He also produced Tororo Tororo roro, a play of the Absurd as a convocation play.
very well
Books, Essays & Political Commentary
Books
Articles
Archival material and ebooks
Archival material
ebooks
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...
's leading 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...
s and theatre directors.
Early life
Ola Rotimi was the son of Samuel Gladstone Enitan Rotimi a YorubaYoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
steam-launch engineer (a successful director and producer of amateur theatricals) and Dorcas Adolae Oruene Addo an Ijaw drama enthusiast. He was born in Sapele, 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...
.; cultural diversity
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
was a recurring theme in his work. He attended St. Cyprians School in Port Harcourt from 1945 to 1949, St Jude's School, 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...
from 1951 to 1952 and the Methodist Boys High School in Lagos before traveling to the United States in 1959 to study at Boston University
Boston University College of Fine Arts
The Boston University College of Fine Arts is unit of Boston University. The College consists of the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. Each of the individual schools offer degrees in the performing and visual arts at the undergraduate and graduate level...
where he obtained a B.A in fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
s'. In 1965, he married Hazel Mae Guadreau originally from Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
; Hazel also studied at Boston University
Boston University College of Fine Arts
The Boston University College of Fine Arts is unit of Boston University. The College consists of the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. Each of the individual schools offer degrees in the performing and visual arts at the undergraduate and graduate level...
where she majored in opera
Opera
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...
, voice and music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
. In 1966 he obtained an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
, where he earned the distinction of being a Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
scholar in Playwriting and Dramatic Literature.
Theatrical career
Ola Rotimi often examined Nigeria’s history and local traditions in his works. His first plays To Stir the God of Iron (produced 1963) and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (produced 1966; published 1977) were staged at the drama schools of Boston UniversityBoston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and Yale
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
, respectively.
Later years
Upon returning to Nigeria in the 1960s, he taught at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo UniversityObafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University is a government-owned and -operated Nigerian university. The university is in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria...
) and Port Harcourt. Owing, in part, to political conditions in Nigeria, Rotimi spent much of the 1990s living in the Caribbean and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he taught at Macalester College
Macalester College
Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...
in St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. In 2000 he returned to Ile-Ife
Ife
Ife is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. Evidence of inhabitation at the site has been discovered to date back to roughly 560 BC...
, joining the faculty of Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University is a government-owned and -operated Nigerian university. The university is in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria...
where he lectured till his demise. Sadly, Hazel (his wife) died in May 2000, only a couple of months before his own death.
His later dramas include The Gods Are Not to Blame (produced 1968; published 1971), a retelling adaptation of the Oedipus
Oedipus
Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...
myth in imaginative verse; Kurunmi and the Prodigal (produced 1969; published as Kurunmi, 1971), written for the second Ife Festival of Arts; Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (produced 1971; published 1974), about the last ruler of the Benin empire; and Holding Talks (1979).
Later plays, such as If: A Tragedy of the Ruled (1983) and Hopes of the Living Dead (1988), premiered at the University of Port Harcourt
University of Port Harcourt
The University of Port Harcourt is a university in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt, and was given university status in 1977.-Faculties:...
and was a common play in OAU Drama department. The radio play
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
Everyone His/Her Own Problem was broadcast in 1987. His book African Dramatic Literature: To Be or to Become? was published in 1991.
Ola Rotimi a patriot, who shunned the attraction of the West and Europe and returned home to contribute his own quota to nation building
Nation-building
For nation-building in the sense of enhancing the capacity of state institutions, building state-society relations, and also external interventions see State-building....
, was a rare breed. Diminutive in size but a giant in drama in Africa, he was one of the best things that could have happened to the literary community.
His dream of directing a play of 5000 cast member
Cast member
A cast member is:* An actor who performs in a theatrical production, motion picture, or television program. The actors who perform in the show are collectively referred to as the cast....
s materialized at the Amphi Africa Theater when he was being put to rest as the crowd was drawn to a manuscript of the day's program outline. People made dramatic entry and exit to the stage around his casket with the man turning his casket.
Rotimi spent the second half of his last creative decade reworking two of his plays: Man talk, Woman talk and also Tororo, Tororo, Roro and the result, yet unpublished as at the time of his death in 2002, have now been published under the title, The Epilogue. The two plays were probably meant to be an epilogue to both Rotimi’s theatrical and comic careers which stretch the entire spectrum of his career.
It is comical and the language is a version of ‘Nigerian English’ and thus we have ‘Se you get?’ ‘I called God on him’ …
The works are also a social satire and this publication will spur renewed interest in his satires. Rotimi is sure to be remembered as a model in the literary genre
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
whose views have shaped the conduct of the theater and whose plays have demonstrated the power of drama to shape the thinking of the society and attempted to solve some of the problems encountered in everyday living.
Plays
- To Stir the God of Iron (1963)
- Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (1966)
Here Rotimi depicts the cocoa farmer and businessman Lejoka-Brown as a self-seeking, opportunistic leader who could make better contributions to his country outside of the political arena.
- The Gods Are Not To Blame (1968)
An adaptation of the Greek Classic, Oedipus Rex; the main character gets trapped by pride, ignorance and the caprices of the divinities.
- Kurunmi(1969)
- Holding Talks(1970)
- Ovonramven Nogbaisi (1971)
In Ovonramven Nogbaisi, the title character simply luxuriates in the grandeur of his office. Although he is a custodian of culture who inspires people, he does not actively participate in their struggles.
- Grip Am(1973)
- Invitation Into Madness (1973)
- Akassa Youmi(1977)*
- If: A Tragedy of The Ruled (1979)
In If:..., the young firebrand Hamidu is nowhere to be found when a real commitment is required
- Hopes of The Living Dead (1985)
In Hopes of The Living Dead, Rotimi depicts a different kind of leader. Here we have a selfless, result-oriented, committed leadership complemented by a followership that believes in the good of the generality of its members through the application of itself to the cause that is beneficial.
- When the Criminals Become Judges
The Epilogue: Two unpublished plays of Ola Rotimi
- Man Talk, Womanm Talk
Man talk, Woman talk is humorous, as quintessential comedies from the author can be. He makes use of wry humour to seek a level playing ground for resolution of the biases men and women nurse about one another and which affect mutual co-existence of the two. The scene is a court though devoid of the usual technicalities of court rooms. Instead of legal jargon, there is humor, arguments and counter arguments. What the author arrives at is not to prove which gender is superior but to show the complementary roles of men and women. There is a great deal of wit in the work and the setting here is the university environment where the youthful contenders are idealistic.
- Tororo, Tororo, Roro
Tororo, Tororo, Roro is a coincidental meeting of two fellows from
Man talk, Woman talk, Tunji Oginni and Philomena James. Both run Hotel Kilimanjaro with different motives and a chance meeting by both of them elicits lessons as both share each other’s problems.
Performances
First performed in Nigeria in 1968, The Gods Are Not To Blame was set to light-up the Arcola TheatreArcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre is a studio theatre in Dalston, in the London Borough of Hackney. The theatre's ambition is to create and present high-quality theatre with a social and political relevance to its multicultural local community as well as a wider audience....
in Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, 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...
in 2005. Femi Elufowoju (Jr) had his first theatre experience in 1975, at the age of 11, when he saw a revival of this very play, performed in a reconstructed Greek amphitheatre at a university campus in Ife; and brought it to the UK shores as a British leading theatre director under the company name Tiata Fahodzi
Tiata Fahodzi
Tiata Fahodzi is a British-African theatre company, founded in 1997 by actor-director Femi Elufowoju, Jr. After 13 years of distinguished service, Elefowoju, Jr left the company in April 2010...
His last production was a staging of Man talk Woman talk at the French Institute in Lagos, Nigeria
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...
. He also produced Tororo Tororo roro, a play of the Absurd as a convocation play.
very well
Style
For Man talk, Woman talk, directorial approach must have fluidity which will allow for creativity of the actors. The technicalities of the stage should be carefully applied in such a way that they will kill expected boredom associated with court scenes for if not done, the whole dramatic in the act will be flattened out. It might do the play a favor if it is given the kind of approach Ola Rotimi himself used in the directing of the premiere of the play. It is the technique that allows a kind of participatory interaction; the one that accommodates the audience contribution.List of works
Books that contain his significant contributions (see notes for more information) are marked with a percentage(%); Conference publications are marked with an asterisk (*); thesis or disectations are marked with a dagger (†) below.Works
Plays and Literature- Kurunmi
- The Gods Are Not To BlameThe Gods Are Not To BlameThe Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi following To Stir the God of Iron and earning his M.F.A. in 1966 with Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again premiered at Yale that year...
- Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi
- Our husband has gone mad again
- Holding talks
- If: A tragedy of the ruled
- Understanding "The Gods Are Not to Blame"
- Hopes of the living dead
- Viandanti della storia%
- African dramatic literature
- Playwriting and directing in Nigeria
- The Epilogue
Books, Essays & Political Commentary
Books
- A dictionary of Nigerian Pidgin English: with an intoductory survey of the history, linguistics and socio-literary functions
- Introduction to Nigerian literature%
- The living culture of Nigeria%
- A translation of the play "The Gods Are Not to Blame" into Setswana†
- Statement towards August '83-
- The Masquerade in Nigerian history and culture*%
- An interview (1975) with Ola Rotimi, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of African StudiesInstitute of African StudiesThe Institute of African Studies on the campus of the University of Ghana at Legon is an interdisciplinary research institute in the humanities and social sciences. It was established by President Kwame Nkrumah in 1962 to encourage African studies....
, University of Ifẹ, Ile Ifẹ - Diversity of creativity in Nigeria*
- African theatre in performance%
- Akassa you mi
- Issues in African theatre
Articles
- Conversation with Ola Rotimi
- How the kingfisher learned fear
- Review of: Kiabàrà: Journal of the Humanities 1(June 1978)
- Through whom the spirits breathe
- The trials of African literature
- Everyone his/her own problem
- No direction home
Archival material and ebooks
Archival material
- [Papers*
- African Papers, 1963, 1968-1989
- Gbe'ku De:pièce en 1 acte
ebooks
- Initiation into madness
- Our husband has gone mad again
- If
- Holding talks
- Hopes of the living dead
- Grip am
- Akassa you mi
- Kurunmi
- Ovonramwen Nogbaisi
See also
- Lace Occasional Publications, Vol.1, No.3 (June 23, 1984), Theatre Department, University of IbadanUniversity of IbadanThe University of Ibadan is the oldest Nigerian university, and is located five miles from the centre of the major city of Ibadan in Western Nigeria...
, NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , 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...
Biography
External links
- Bookrags Staff, (Emmanuel) (Gladstone) Ola(wale) Rotimi, 2005. Retrieved 2011-02-19.