Ola Rotimi
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Olawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, best known as Ola Rotimi (13 April 1938 – 18 August 2000), was one of
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
's leading playwrights and theatre directors. He has been called "a complete man of the theatre – an actor, director, choreographer and designer – who created performance spaces, influenced by traditional architectural forms."


Biography


Early life

Rotimi was the son of Samuel Gladstone Enitan Rotimi a Yoruba steam-launch engineer (a successful director and producer of amateur theatricals) and Dorcas Adolae Oruene Addo an
Ijaw Ijaw may refer to: *Ijaw people The Ijaw people, also known as the Izon people, are an ethnic group found in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, with primary Population, population clusters in Bayelsa State, Bayelsa, Delta State, Delta, and River ...
drama enthusiast. He was born in
Sapele ''Entandrophragma cylindricum'' is a tree of the genus ''Entandrophragma'' of the family ''Meliaceae''. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli ( ) or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu. Origin of the name The name ''sape ...
,
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
;
cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to Monoculturalism, monoculture. It has a variety of meanings in different contexts, sometimes applying to cultural products like art works in museums or entertainment ...
was a recurring theme in his work. He attended St. Cyprian's School in
Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...
from 1945 to 1949, St Jude's School,
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
, from 1951 to 1952 and the Methodist Boys' High School, Lagos, before travelling to the United States in 1959 to study at
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
, where he obtained a BA in fine arts. In 1965, he married Hazel Mae Gaudreau; Hazel also studied at
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
, where she majored in
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
,
voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...
and
music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...
. In 1966 he obtained an MA from Yale School of Drama, where he earned the distinction of being a
Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
scholar in playwriting and dramatic literature.


Theatrical career

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 University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
and
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
, respectively.


Later years

Upon returning to Nigeria in the 1960s, Rotimi taught at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), where he founded th
Ori Olokun Acting Company
"Rotimi, Ola", in Martin Banham, Errol Hill & George Woodyard (eds), ''The Cambridge Guide to African & Caribbean Theatre'', Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 81. and
Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...
. 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 Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...
in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
. In 2000 he returned to Ile-Ife where he lectured in Obafemi Awolowo University till his demise. Hazel (his wife) died in May 2000, only a couple of months before Rotimi's death. His later dramas include '' The Gods Are Not to Blame'' (produced 1968; published 1971), a retelling of
Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
' ''
Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...
'' 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 The Kingdom of Benin, also known as Great Benin, is a traditional kingdom in southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's c ...
; 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 The University of Port Harcourt is a public research university located in Aluu and Choba, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The Univ ...
and was a common play in Obafemi Awolowo University 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. 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 In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenpla ...
s materialised 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, unpublished at the time of his death in 2000, have now been published under the title ''The Epilogue''. were probably meant as an epilogue to both Rotimi's theatrical and comic careers, which span the entire spectrum of his career. It is comical and the language used is a version of "Nigerian English" (for example: "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 A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by List of narrative techniques, literary technique, Tone (literature), tone, Media (communication), content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from mor ...
whose views have shaped the conduct of the theatre 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

* (1963) ''To Stir the God of Iron'' * (1966) '' Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again''—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. * (1968) ''The Gods Are Not to Blame''—an adaptation of the Greek classic ''
Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...
''; the main character gets trapped by pride, ignorance and the caprices of the divinities. * (1969) ''Kurunmi'' * (1970) ''Holding Talks'' * (1971) ''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. * (1973) '' Grip Am'' * (1973) ''Invitation into Madness'' * (1977) ''Akassa Youmi''* * (1979) ''If: A Tragedy of the Ruled''—in ''If'', the young firebrand Hamidu is nowhere to be found when a real commitment is required. * (1985) ''Hopes of The Living Dead''—Rotimi here depicts a different kind of leader: 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, Woman 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 humour, 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 between them elicits lessons as both share each other's problems.


Performances

First performed in Nigeria in 1968, ''The Gods Are Not to Blame'' was produced at the
Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalston, houses two studio ...
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.


Textual sources


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 favour 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.


Awards

Rotimi was awarded two
Fulbright Scholarships The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...


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 dissertations are marked with a dagger (†) below. ; Plays and literature *''Kurunmi'' *'' The Gods Are Not to Blame'' *''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 and political commentary Books *''A Dictionary of Nigerian Pidgin English: with an introductory 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 Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalaga ...
''† *''Statement towards August '83-'' *''The Masquerade in Nigerian history and culture''*% *''An interview (1975) with Ola Rotimi, senior research fellow, Institute of 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'' In 2015 Society of Young Nigerian Writers under the leadership of Wole Adedoyin founded Ola Rotimi Literary Society(www.olarotimiliterarysociety.blogspot.com) aim at promoting and reading the works of Ola Rotimi.


See also

*Lace Occasional Publications, Vol.1, No.3 (23 June 1984), Theatre Department,
University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...
, Nigeria


Notes


References


Relevant literature

*Adegbite, Wale. "Pragmatic tactics in diplomatic communication: a case study of Ola Rotimi's Ovonramwen Nogbaisi." ''Journal of pragmatics'' 37, no. 9 (2005): 1457-1480. *ANIGBOGU, Ngozi Chidinma, and Festus C. AHIZIH. "LANGUAGE USE IN OLA ROTIMI’S'THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME'." ''Socialscientia: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities'' 5, no. 1 (2020): 28-41. *Apuke, Oberiri Destiny. "Thematic Analysis/Review of Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not to Blame." ''Studies in Literature and Language'' 13, no. 5 (2016): 11-13. *Jegede, Olusegun Oladele and Eniola Omotayo Osoba. 2019. The Pragmatics of Proverbs in Ola Rotimi’s Kurunmi. ''Bulletin of Advanced English Studies'' 3(2)2019, 92-100
Open access
*Monye, Ambrose. "The Use of Proverbs in Ola Rotimi's' The Gods are not to Blame'." ''Proverbium'' 12 (1995): 251-61. *Nutsukpo, Margaret Fafa. "Beyond Adaptation: The Representation of Women in Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are Not To Blame." International Journal 9, no. 2 (2019). *Odebunmi, Akin. "Pragmatic functions of crisis-motivated proverbs in Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are Not to Blame." (2008). ''Linguistik Online'' 33, 1/08. *Ola, V. U. "The Concept of Tragedy in Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are Not to Blame." ''Okike'' 22 (1982): 23-31. *Owoeye, Omolara Kikelomo, and Samuel Ayodele Dada. "A demographic analysis of proverbs in Rotimis historical tragedies." ''US-China Foreign Language'' 10 (2012): 1599-1607. *Simpson, Michael. "The Curse of the Canon: Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not To Blame." ''Classics in Post-Colonial Worlds'' (2007): 86ff *Zakariyah, Moshood. 2016. ''A Pragmatic Analysis of Proverbs in Selected Works of Ola Rotimi''. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria: Doctoral dissertation.


External links

* Bookrags Staff

2005. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
A study of Nigerian dramatist Ola Rotimi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotimi, Ola Nigerian dramatists and playwrights Nigerian male novelists Nigerian satirists Yoruba dramatists and playwrights Yoruba novelists People from Osun State DePauw University people Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni 1938 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Nigerian novelists Nigerian expatriate academics in the United States Academic staff of Obafemi Awolowo University English-language writers from Nigeria 20th-century Nigerian dramatists and playwrights Methodist Boys' High School alumni Ijaw people Academic staff of the University of Port Harcourt Yoruba academics Nigerian theatre directors International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Nigerian male writers