Additional Insertion

,,_,,_,, Q ;97) { '? Jl In Hope~of the Living Dead (m3 last. '-'weli:4.ed ;:.:y_).:_,. Rotimi

returns to/ his preoccupation with hifiilii:1¥ £ei11 .iieeQes ef ~ ~ Rl¼fflaa,tsa niet11J 11001.As anet the concept of leadership and

responsibility. This tim~;wh~r,seems to h:::MT:r realize.that history is more than a record of past event:i:. k.=has a core of reali-ey

~c!;t: ;;~ ~Zsi!n~~ ~= :ivec whether projecting ~ paint &f view e i -- -- --·~ - . y

( The "Lepers' Rebellion" in Nigeria in the years 1928-32 / 52--,-) providel the background for the play1 but Rotimi weaves ~ parable on the theme of "collective struggle" forged through t=•::e2ee. ..

,,,l.~ss- es- group solidarity and communicated through waves of petitions, delegations and protests by the lepers (the living-dead) ~

-i,.\( to the government ~Li:.a: Haj es:tj•i @c,:n·r,me!'I~ to oomand and sla i3u ~ .rr. \,'t their legitimate right to ~xistence . ~ ~ ·<,:- ~ ---4.

~ Y ~ Ikoli _Harc'?urt _Whyt~~- ~one. of ·· , _. ~forty lepers .... O,SJ?1hb:~~ Port Harcourt GgpeaJ.~ta~~

_ ~?4af.u!I:! an experimen~fa=,=~==t'.111:-€!-\,:l~~- for leprosy l;z:alfflJ Hlli~ifoy a ~ .....-,:;_;· Scottish medical practitioner~ k. Fet::!Jtt&S1:ffi. Harcourt Whyte •

t;~ p] ?''' s hel! €J organizes the leprosy patients l>roaght to tlm Canara] Hospital from va1. iuu:::s par Es uf4:.he cou11Ery f-each spcaJt±ng thoir 0WJI :Aa~f3i to resist evacuation to their different AJ/.P~~

village s aftere abandonment of the experiment by the Colonial ~~--~n Administration. When :1§:aesd by the bait in form of a 11 paclcage deal" ~'\ whloh i cGlat~ lri"m fo:r: special treatment by the agents of govermnent -~·...; ' " :;i..'J: in---ordor to break the solidarity and power source of the g r oup, ,tC;;v · •

Harcourt Whyte brush.es the attraoti~ a~e &Mi- s=ric~ Lu a new ~i opsnqos=racts purposefully bind.:i.ag, the group into a"'- . 1no_veme1it. = 'llhuc providing~enc for a new struggJ e being o"Re ~ ,.. in spirit and 'J)t¼rpa-se. -- For~~ -t ,~

In the end, the way orward to Uzuakoli, the lepers' land of ,,&-: .. ~ Canaan, was guaranteed by the government, but not without its own -~- _ motive-force=self-reliance and building a n e w self-image. Rotimi ends the play in a characteristic forward march and with glee=rai sing the hopes of the "living-dead", paradoxically, through a c tion by the "dead-awaken."

&-= <;;fr \'\{;-,-c,,r---1 \,) ,.:-K -~ ,,_., ____ ;:; ~ 1-:-r /-1.e ~ -~p~ ;:.._. __ ,:>. _,.!L.

~ - , __ ,,,,J)YJ &,_~Jc, -?ff:_ __ -:t;::: ,;-~~- ~ .. \J , . ~ . J_ 77--5L-

~ - a PD e,,;fr.::v fj2~_f (p~· ¥--'\\~ . /) . n .Y--

-~ -fi .. _,,c fJ_a.1_,A·' -4 ;y,_9-<J-r'.>~--'(_ ~ . ~~ (

J,, n ~ ~ i, 0; '7 ,._ ~----"-/ · ~ . r)7.~y -- c-ra> -0 - -~ ;_. ...,.......,,.,a_ C<J~.,,--<, • ....,

~po~ ·t::;!; ~ ~ . ~../,.V~

,1-,.,_ ,s ~( e:-~ ~ • • /) f I ~ -~~ , ~ ii-v, ( ~ . ~ s,_~ ,_, - .;-:; /, -..;_:}-, r- -:J ,·½ J<,.'./.,,<1?).;.lo~ ,.

,'"LJ;~~(. :L--.e_ ~7 f ~ r ~

Additions to Essay on Ola Rotimi

Add to list of Rotimi's works:

Hopes of the Living Dead. Lagos: Spectrum, 1988.

Add top. 9, inserting before the last paragraph:

In his latest play, Hopes of the Living Dead, Rotimi returns to his

preoccupation with the concept of leadership and responsibility. This

time, however, he seems to realize that history is more than a record of

past events. The "Lepers' Rebellion" in Nigeria in the years 1928-32

provides the background for the play, but Rotimi weaves a parable on the

theme of "collective struggle" forged through group solidarity and

communicated through waves of petitions, delegations and protests by the

lepers (the living-dead) to the government in an effort to assert their

legitimate right to existence.

The hero of the play is lkoli Harcourt Whyte, one of forty lepers at

Port Harcourt General Hospital who in 1924 underwent an experimental

treatment for leprosy devised by a Scottish medical practitioner.

Harcourt Whyte organizes the leprosy patients to resist evacuation to

their different villages after the abandonment of the experiment by the

colonial administration. When offered special inducements to break with

his fellows, Harcourt Whyte refuses the temptation and purposefully binds

his ethnically diverse group into an effective political force. In the end

(Rotimi continued)

the lepers prevail and march forward to a new settlement offered them by

an image-conscious government. The "living-dead" thus compel the

"dead-awaken" to recognize the humanity of the sick and downtrodden.

·· -/ Additional Insertion

/ In Hope of the Living Dead (his last published play), Rotimi

returns to his preoccupation with history for issues of human/societal concerns and the concept of leadership and responsibility. This time, he seems to have realized that history is more than a record of past events. It has a core of reality which provides its own distinct perspectives whether projecting a point of view or relating to an ideology.

The "Lepers' Rebellion" in Nigeria in the years 1928-32 ,__sL--, provided the background for the play but Rotimi weaves ~ parable on the theme of "collective struggle" forged through the logistics of group solidarity and communicated through waves of petitions, delegations and protests by the lepers (the living-dead) to the government (His Majesty~Government) to demand and claim their legitimate right to existence.

The theme of leadership and responsibility manifests in the ·role of Ikoli Harcourt Whyte described by the author as "one of the forty lepers" hospitalized in the Port Harcourt General Hospital in 1924 for an experiment on a cure for leprosy being undertaken by a Scottish medical practitioner, Dr . Fergusson. Harcourt Whyte as the play' s hero organizes the leprosy patients brought to the General Hospital from various parts of the country (each speaking their own languages) to resist evacuation to their different villages after the abandonment of the experiment by the Colonial Administration. When faced by the bait in form of a "package deal 11

which isolate himlfor special treatment by the agents of government in order to break the solidarity and power-source of the group, Harcourt Whyte br shes the attraction aside and rising to a new level of consciousness, acts purposefully binding the group into a movement. Thus· providing the backbone for a new struggle=being one in spirit a nd purpose.

I n the end, the way forward to Uzuakoli, the lepers' land of Canaan, was~u aranteed by the government, but not without its own motive-fore =self-reliance and building a new self-image. Rotimi ends the lay in a characteristic forward march and with glee=raisin the hopes of the II living-dead", paradoxically, through action by the "dead-awaken."

votes as tools for their own freedom," but the entrenched

capitalist system has cruelly dehumanized the oppressed and

ultimately crushes their idealistic, enlightened leaders who had

advocated solidarity with the masses.

In If, Rotimi breaks new ground. His commitment to nation­

building enforces a new dramatic technique, resulting in

adjustments to structure and technique. His superb skill in

manipulating characters to arouse sympathy is still evident,b ut

contradictions in their portrayal are obvious and distracting.

The message is clear, but the medium at times is too blunt.

1 t~ 3=::~?I; 7 Rotimi I s genius and significance as a dramatist lie in his

successful modification of traditional dramatic form and content

and his creation of a language appropriate to the mass audience

he wishes to address. For him, theater is a celebrative event,

allegorical in essence and capable of capturing the spirit of

communal participation. His importance will emerge with time,

for it appears likely that he will continue to develop new ways

of articulating political ideas through the medium of popular

theater.

I terviews

Rotimi, / ~erview with M~~~et Folarin, New Theatre Magaz i ne I : - ', -- ·- -·-..- ; ;

(Bristol 12, 2, 1972). '

01 R t ·: · 1 · · h h · a 9 imi, Ii i~erview wit Bernt Lindfors, Dem Say (Texas: The / {

University of Texas at Austin, 1974).

Ola Rotimi, rlterview with John~~-~ua, "Six Nigerian Writers" \ ....... /

,,

~- l

I

!

Ola Rotimi

(13 April 1938 - )

Joel Adedeji

African Concord, Concord Press of Nigeria

Emmanuel Gladstone Olawole Rotimi, popularly known as Ola

Rotimi, is a playwright, director, producer, actor, critic,

scholar and teacher. As one of the first three Nigerians (the

others being Joel Adedeji and Yemi Lijadu) to receive a Nigerian

Government Scholarship to study drama in 1959, he eventually

specialized in playwriting and directing at the Yale School of

Drama and developed skills that have made him one of Africa's

most popular dramatists and theater directors. His popularity

derives from his employment of a language capable of reaching a

large audience of theatergoers and his ability to sustain

dramatic interest through sheer mastery of stagecraft.

Born to parents who did not speak the same language (a

(

Yoruba father, Samuel Enitan, and an Ijaw mother, Dorcas orJ ut e), / /\

Ola Rotimi grew up in circumstances that made the problem of

language and communication a real issue in interpersonal

relationships. His early interest in theater and particul arly in

play-directing was stimulated by his father who, although a

steam-launch engineer by profession, directed and produced

amateur theatricals. Between 1963 and 1966, while on a

Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship, Rotimi received professional

training as a dramatist at Yale ' s -School of Drama under the late

John Gassner, one of America's distinguished dramatic critics,

and the late Jack Landau, a professional New York director. Our

Husband Has Gone Mad Again which was premiered at Yale in 1966 fl

gives g~ater evidence of Yale's influence on him than do his .f,

later plays, beginning with The Gods Are Not Xo Blame, which was l

a reworking in terms of Yoruba culture of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.

Published in 1971, The Gods Are Not ~o Blame established Ola 7

Rotimi as both a significant African playwright and a play

director. The play reflects the extent of his commitment to oral

tradition and to the deployment of an appropriate theatrical

language to render an interpretation of Nigerian history that

relates that history to recent happenings. It is this avowed

double purpose that propels his plays. Clearly, his efforts to

domesticate the English language by striving to temper its

phraseology to the ear of both the dominant semi-literate masses

and the literate classes so that the dialogue in his plays

reaches out to both groups, initially claimed most of his

attention. But in confronting the language question, Rotimi came

to realize that his real concern as an artist was to transcend

the province of aesthetics and communicate a relevant message,

one that explored the past in order to comment on the present.

Rotimi appreciates the value of x:t:;; es and 1liliei importance

of history to an understanding of present socio-political

problems. He feels that "every writer--whether a dramatist,

novelist or poet--should have some commitment to his society.

It's not enough to entertain; the writer must try to excite

people into thinking or reacting to the situations he is striving

to hold up to them in his drama or narrative." This search for

"social relevance" has become a major concern in Rotimi's recent

plays, especially If and Hopes of the Living Dead.

Rotimi's first play, our Husband Has Gone Mad Again,

published ten years after its premiere at Yale, paints a picture

of Nigeria as a country ready for political exploitation. It is

a hilarious politico-domestic comedy in which the typical

Nigerian politician is portrayed as a charlatan rather than a

patriot. The published play appears to have been extensively

revised, for it reflects more of Nigeria of the "oil boom" period

than it does of the country during the period of Rotimi's studies

in the United States (1959-66). The aftermath of the Nigerian

Civil War (1967-70) and the military government's promise of a

return to civilian political rule loomi'{.arge€¥" in the play,

which satirizes an ex-soldier's acquisition of excessive

J'v influence and wealth./

Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again focuses on a former military

major who leaves a lucrative cocoa business for party politics.

Major Rahman Taslim Lejoka-Brown saw military service in the

Congo, and during his absence his father married him to Mama

Rashida, his deceased elder brother's oldest wife, without his

consent. While in the Congo he himself had married Liza, a

Catholic Kenyan nurse whom he had encouraged to go to the United

States of America to study medicine. Lejoka-Brown returns home

to enter big-time politics and gets married to a third wife,

Sikira, the daughter of the President of the Nigerian Union of

]

Market Women. He works out a plan that ensures his political

future after the election, a future into which each of the three

wives will fit. The situational comedy turns on Lejoka-Brown's

cunning manipulation of domestic circumstances to achieve

political goals. The three wives represent three kinds of women:

Mama Rashida is an illiterate traditionalist who accepts the

situation with calm and mature decorum. Sikira is a radical

young woman whose background and disposition tend towards

aggression and overconfidence. Liza is "Miss World," an

educated, Westernized and sophisticated young woman whose

Catholic upbringing and acquired cultural habits are opposed to

polygamy and chicanery. The high-water mark of the comedy is

reached in the explosive interplay of the three women within the

network of deceit set up by the exuberant Lejoka Brown, who is

always facetiously recalling the common ground between the

tactics in military warfare and those in politics: the

"surprise-and-attack" strategy.

The socio-political commentary in the play is submerged

beneath forced comic situations and far-fetched knockabouts, but

these extraordinary events are the play's primary source of humor

and reveal Rotimi's robust approach to comedy. He is more

interested in exploiting language to sustain the light mood than

in attempting to treat the problems that have erupted in Nigeria

in the wake of party and tribal politics and the interventions of

the military. The skillful combination of a variety of language/

registers, from pidgin to a broken English that incorporates

~1

'I

~

(

vocabulary items from familiar local languages, contributes a

great deal to the play's comic energy and enables Rotimi to

achieve his ambition to reach a large and varied audience.

When Ola Rotimi returned to Nigeria in 1966, he was

appointed as a Research Fellow in Drama at the Institute of

African Studies at the University of Ife. Research matters very

much to Rotimi, informing his concept of playwriting and play

directing. He once stated that "historical resources offer

possibilities for matching the human concerns of the past with

issues that preoccupy us today." Rotimi uses his plays to draw

such parallels and show his audience that previous generations,

despite their "obvious debilitating handicaps," were able to

"grapple with certain sociopolitical problems that threatened

their survival." This may help to inspire the present generation

to deal with contemporary political problems. t

The Gods Are Not To Blame is not a historical play that 7

recreates Nigeria's distant past. It is concerned with more

recent events. Rotimi, inspired by the Oedipus myth, wanted to

criticize ethnic strife and affirm models of heroism and

patriotism, so he transferred the Greek story to Nigeria,

adapting it to conform to aspects of local culture. The gods

referred to are not mystic deities of an African pantheon but

rather political powers outside the African continent . These

"gods are not to blame" for the fall of any man who brings

disaster upon himself through his own machinations . The tragedy

of Rotimi's hero was self-inflicted, as was the tragedy of

Nigeria's civil war, an ethnic conflict which Nigerians can only

blame on themselves. The modified Oedipus myth thus illuminates

contemporary Nigerian political history.

In the play King Odewale, a stranger, becomes the ruler of

Kutuje. He prepares for a peaceful and prosperous tenure. In

spite of his birth into a world of predetermined conditions which

are beyond his control, King Odewale convinces his people of his

strong determination to seek and maintain their welfare. He is

by nature an extremist who is also given to inquisitiveness,

rash decisions and errors in judgment. These affect his

appraisal of the situation in his society and imperil his reign.

He gouges out his own eyes when he discovers that he is the cause

of the disaster that has engulfed his people and endangered the

society. He takes his children away and abandons the society for

an unknown destination. King Odewale's leadership and style of

governance, however, point to the social relevance of collective

leadership as an assurance for societal stability.

Kurunmi, his next play, concentrates on the fortune of a

hero who tries to uphold the dignity of / tradition in the face

of threats to the continued existence of his society . There is a

general atmosphere of unrest and war threatening the Oyo Yoruba

kingdom . Any more abuse of the age- old customs of the people

will provoke the gods. It is the sanctity of honored traditions

that makes a people honorable. Must a leader therefore bow to

the forces of change even when such change is harmful and ill­

motivated? Kurunmi, the Are-Ona-Kakanfo (Generalissimo) of the

C

Oyo Yoruba empire believes that he must defy the pressures that

undermine tradition. What is the relevance of tradition when the

('-'~ Jtffe~ 7,Jff· society demands change and the collective will of the

people becomes the enabling force? These are the searching

questions in Rotimi's Kurunmi, and his treatment of the hero

exposes his sympathy for inevitable change . Kurunmi plunges the

state into war and ultimately becomes a victim of his own free

will and action. With Kurunmi's loss and death the forces of

change win, but in the end the society suffers. The search for a

patriotic leader and true nationalism continue.

ovonramwen Nogbaisi continues Rotimi's exploration of the

theme of leadership and responsibility in a period of crisis .

Oba ovonramwen of the Benin Empire is under pressure. His

authority is threatened both internally and externally .

ovonramwen attempts to reassert the authority of Benin over the

subject areas in rebellion, but he is confronted by a devastating

attack from British imperialism. Rotimi sees the British

punitive expedition of 1897 as an unwarranted aggression by an

imperialist force intent on subjugating the might of Benin wi th a

view to exercising British jurisdiction over the people's weal th

and resources. Ovonramwen takes a number of steps which show

that he lacks the qual i ty of will - power necessary to reassert his

diminishing authority and influence over his chiefs . The odds

agai nst him are overwhel ming, and after he had been mischievously

abandoned by his warlords, the British move in . Ovonramwen's

7

strength of character in his final hour of surrender reveals that

he is a heroic leader.

Holding Talks, Rotimi's next play, has been described as an

absurdist allegory. It depicts how man at critical points

dissipates his energies in interminable discussions instead of

taking immediate action that results in straightforward solutions

to pressing human problems. A man dies, and those investigating

the cause focus not on vital issues but turn their attention to

different organs of the corpse. In this way Rotimi exposes to

ridicule the ineffectiveness of certain social institutions such

as the church, the school, the press}and the diplomatic service. ) )

Although Holding Talks does not entirely succeed as a political

statement, it does succeed as an entertaining comedy. It pokes

fun at the inept behavior of some African political leaders and

heads of government in the mid-seventies, and exposes the

rigmarole of international politics to ridicule.

After this farce, Rotimi wrote a more serious political

play . If clearly expresses the wish for a new kind of

leadership, one with a rugged sense of responsibility and a

commitment to "tearing everything apart and starting the entire

nation-building process all over again, this time with no

tolerance whatsoever for the selfish, nor for the expedient of

double standards." The play captures the mood of the nation

after the demise of Nigeria's Second Republic. Capitalism has

been enthroned with its brutal machinery for exploiting the

masses. A chance for change exists "if the masses will use their

votes as tools for their own freedom," but the entrenched

capitalist system has cruelly dehumanized the oppressed and

ultimately crushes their idealistic, enlightened leaders who had

advocated solidarity with the masses.

In If, Rotimi breaks new ground. His commitment to nation­

building enforces a new dramatic technique, resulting in

adjustments to structure and technique . His superb skill in

manipulating characters to arouse sympathy is still evident,b ut \_.-,-

contradictions in their portrayal are obvious and distracting .

The message is clear, but the medium at times is too blunt.

Rotimi's genius and significance as a dramatist lie in his

successful modification of traditional dramatic form and content

and his creation of a language appropriate to the mass audience

he wishes to address. For him, theater is a celebrati ve event,

allegorical in essence and capable of capturing the spirit of

communal participation. His importance will emerge with time,

for it appears likely that he will continue to develop new ways

of articulating political ideas through the medium of popular

theater.

Rotimi /

(Bri stol

erview with ~et Folarin, -N"e¥ Theatre Magazine , I · ~

, 2 , 2 , 19 7 2 ') ~ I //, -I Ola R9timi , I erview with Bernt.h Lindfors, Dem · say {Texas: The

: :'

Ola

Universi y of Texas at Austin, ,.1974).

Rotimi, I b iew with John~~ua, "Six Nigerian writers"

~

(! I

(

(Benin City: The Bendel N~~aper Corporation, 1976).

References // // ./']

Dapo Adelug~,l,/ 11Wale Ogunyemi / Zulu Sofo~a'. and _,.Ola Rotimi;. Three

Drama,tiz~ s in Search of a Language, II Theatre in AfricJ ed. I i)

I , •

Abipla , rele and ·Oyin Ogunb3/ (Ibadan: Ibadan Univer~ity

Pr£ ss, /1978); : I A1ex / Joh~,, ,;,~1a Rotimi: How Significant?" African /

' . , , \(\'\(AV\ V\ ! Literature Today, No. 12 (New York: Heipemmarm Africana

/ Publishing Com~any/, 19_~~;: l 37-53; (/ 0 Ro,1ert M. Wren, "Ola RoW : A )"'jar New Talent/ Africa Report,

18, 5, (1973): 29-31. · I I

• ••• I •.._ {

BOOKS

·-/'. C .. :.._,_~· -~· : ,_ :,J

-' -~ J

PLAYS: -· _p The Gods Are Not To Blame

(London: Oxford University Press, 1971); 1

Kurunmi (London: Oxford University Press, 197~~

~~Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (London: Oxford I I

\ University Press1 197.1~ );

\ _.---\r::----- Ovonr2-:1mwen Nogbaisi (Lond,?~: -~~~ord ~ -~i~ersity Press_; 1 · r-.... J r. ~ ~1 • , . , • - ,,. i~ . • L/ ~~-~ Benin ~i ty ;,,/~~~:~~t\ P-~:;.:~-~1_1~ . N1;-~er .. ~ _ -~-~,7~_)_; ... -~-- _

Holding Talks -(-bondo-~: , o,xf or~ _University Press, 1979 >; ~ - . - .. ... r"': · ·t. , ._ · ~-: · _ ,

If ( Ibadan: Heinemann Nigeria L±m;i..ted-, 1983)' / ' ~

Hope:. of~ Lv;,,,r;. Dead (,-b -, <.:~ ~ , ,- -r -·' . .. .. ;; -- I • . - . ' '•' •-" '~ ..

PLAY PRODUCTIONS 1-h• 5

Our Husband~ Gone Mad Again, New Haven, Yale

Theatre, 1966{'

' \ j;

The Gods Are Not To Blame, Ife, Ori Olokun Theatre, 1968! /

Kurunmi, Ife, Ori Olokun Theatre, 1969.• ,,

Holding Talks, Ife, University of Ife Theatre, 1970.• ,,

ovonramwem Nogbaisi, Ife, University of Ife Theatre, 1971!

If 1 !~rfr~rt, Univer~it~ of Port Harco~rt Theatre, 197~.•

Hope> -Q_ fu L;._;,'v,1 1)e .... cl/ul,l\11031+:J "'J P.u+ lfo..vc.:,vo'! R~ fcrF:i'*' • Dates of first production only. 1

'

PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS

(a) Fiction (Story) :

_;,,~ "The Man and the Black Mosquit~"

Interlint, ~4, ~210_968): 2~.

(b) Non-fiction (Essays):

~ - -- - ----O la Rotimi-, "The Drama in African Ritual Display",

Nigeria Mag a zine, iJ:' 99rc196B): 321 -°3'30;

,, _ ( .i.. . { 'I, ' / (ll c, - 1 cn .,~ /V/Je,t~

I.. - I/ ' . - / I

i Kurunmi (London: Oxford University Press, 197~) · i1 /

tLonaon: oxtora un1.vers1cy Press 1 .1.::11 .1.1.1

~--;70ur Husband Has Gone Mad Again (London: Oxford f '7 : University Press 1976)· \ I ,' \ .I

'

PLAY PRODUCTIONS rh•~

Our Husband:?'!; Gone Mad Again, New Haven, Yale

Theatre, 1966 .~

' The Gods Are Not To Blame, Ife, Ori Olokun Theatre, 1968, /

Kurunmi, Ife, Ori Olokun Theatre, 1969~ .,

Holding Talks, Ife, University of Ife Theatre, 1970~ /

ovonramwem Noqbaisi, Ife, University of Ife Theatre, 1971~ ,

If, Port H9rcourt, University of Port Harcourt Theatre, 1979~

ttoee:0~-ciI;-

0

~~ ~ 1·,,,, l)~,,_d,U:,,~ 11 ers'1j_7 JJ Pu+ lfo..\fc<>v ,rt R~ (CfFS-* • Dates of first production only. 1 '

PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS

(a) Fiction (Story):

"The Man and the Black Mosquit1t

Interlini:, ~4, ~2)0:_968): 2q. (b) Non-fiction (Essays):

-~- -----Ola Rot-1-mi-, "The Drama in African Ritual Display",

Nigeria Magazine, ~ 99«1968): )Z-1-330;

r, Trd.J,+,~~J NlJ eri'6-,,,. J)ra.lM-a.../' ;'1 :r;,_ fro ducf1t> V1 f-D

~,i"<e~ 1 ed /!nu: /{,'YI ( L6-l°C

~v~s; f'/ew York: A-fr:c~I 117 '.J: 56-L{Cf;

I ID ,&.!/---, (,)..._ " I I '1 17-uz._ Ccvr:1 CLL(-fu rc oJ N~ien~., 12d.

)qb'-<v-i 0. (J/o hll l-<4 (l4jo5: Ale/501//1

/97?:,): 3] - 3 7,

References 'Z.

Rotimi

f.A. Adejumo, 0 Transmuting History into Drama: A Study of Ola

Rotimi's Kurunmi and Wale Soyinka's Death and the King's

Horseman,n Lagos Review of English Studies, 8 (1986): 186-200;

Dapo Adelugba, "Wale Ogunyemi, 'Zulu Sofola and Ola Rotimi: Three

Dramtists in Search of a Language," in Theatre in Africa, ed.

Oyin Ogunba and Abiola Irele (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press,

1978): 2 01-220 ;

Samuel o. Asein, "The Tragic Grandeur of Ovonramwen Nogbaisi,"

Nigeria MaJzine, 110-112 (1974): 40-49;

T,A. Ezeigbo, "Ola Rotimi and the Oedipus Legacy," Lagos Review

of English Studies, 6-7 (1984-85): 175-185;

Alex C. Johnson, "Ola Rotimi: How Significant?" African Literature

Today, 12 (1982): 137-153;

Johnson, "Two Historical Plays from West Africa," Komparatistiche

Hefte, 8 (1983): 39-54;

Akanji Nasiru, "Ola Rotimi's Search for a Technique," in New West

African Literature, ed. Kolawole Ogungbesan (London: Heinemann,

1979): 21-30;

V.U. Ola, "The Concept of Tragedy in Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are

Not to Blame,'' Okike, 22 (1982): 23-31;

Femi Osofisan, Beyond Translation (A Comparatist Look at Tragic

Paradigms and t he Dramaturgy of Wole Soyinka a n d Ola Rotimi).

Ile-Ife: Department of Literature in English, University of

Ife, 1985);

Martin Owusu, Drama of the Gods: A Study of Seven African Plays

(Roxbury, MA: Omenana, 1983);

Robert M. Wren, "Ola Rotimi: A Major New Talent," Africa Report,

18, 5 (1973): 29- 31.

......

()-.-- :·-- / . - . : ( . - - : .... Rotimi

. .:)· .... .) _i • ..

.... ,. · .. ! :r . '. "' ', I _ _' /! , ' ' r- . . G --·· -.;~,.'. :.1 · . . ------------- --··· --

l o-::-·-:,\ . . , =,__) .

Interviews

Margaret Folarin, "Ola Rotimi Interviewed," New Theatre Magazine,

12, 2 (1972): 5-7;

Bernth Lindfors, ed., Dem-Say : Interviews with Eight Nigerian

Writers (Austin: African and Afro-American Studies and

Research Center, University of Texas, 1974 ): 57-68;

John Agetua, ed., Interviews with Six Nigerian Writers (Benin

City: Bendel Newspapers Corp., 1976): 28-33;

Dapo Adelugba, An Interview (1975) with Ola Rotimi, Senior

Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies, University

of Ife, Ile-Ife, LACE Occasional Publications, Vol. 1, No.

3 (Ibadan: Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan,

1984 );

Understanding The Gods Are Not to Blame: A Detailed Tnterview

with Ola Rotimi on His Award-winning Tragedy: The Gods Are

Not :~to Blame (Lagos: Kurunmi Adventures Publication, 1984);

Onuora Ossie Enekwe , "Interview with Ola Rotimi," Okike, 25-26

(1984): 36-42;

Lee Nichols, African Writers at the Microphone (Washington, DC:

Three Continents Press, 1984);

Don Burness and Mary~Lou Burness, eds. , Wanaserna : · Conversati·ons

with African Writers (Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for

International Studies, African Studies Program, 1985).

Bibliography

0.0. Lalude, Theatre Arts: Ola Rotirni and His Works: An Annotated

Bibliography (Port Harcourt, Nigeria: University of Port

Harcourt Library, 198 4 ),

\?, I <) ( <;. ~ L, \, (

~ ------·--~~

--Ola Rotimi

(13 April 1938 - )

Joel Adedeji

BOOKS: The Gods Are Not to Blame (London: Ox-, ford University Press, 1971);

li(v.n,H-\~ L~An Historical Tragedy (London &. Ibadan: Oxford -- University Press, 1971);

Ovonramwen Nogbaisi: An Historical Tragedy in English (Benin City, Nigeria: Ethiope / Oxford &. Ibadan: Oxford University Press, 1974);

Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again: A Comedy (Oxford &. Ibadan: Oxford University Press, 1977);

Holding Talks: An Absurdi.st Drama (Ibadan: Univer­sity Press / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979);

.lf(lbadan: Heinemann Nigeria, 1983); Statements Towards August '83 (Lagos: Kurunmi Ad­

ventures, 1983); Hopes of the Living Dead (Ibadan: Spectrum, 1988); African Dramatic Literature: To Be or To Become? (Port

Harcourt, Nigeria: University of Port Har· court, 1991) .

PLAY PRODUCTIONS: Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, New Haven, Yale Theatre, 1966;

'Jn.e Gods Are Not to Blame, Ife, Nigeria, Ori Olokun Theatre, 1968;

Kurunmi, Ife, Nigeria, Ori Olokun Theatre, 1969; Holding Talks, Ife, Nigeria, University of Ife Thea­

tre, 1971; .lf, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, University of Port Har­

court Theatre, 1979; Hopes of the Living Dead, Port Harcourt, Nigeria,

University of Port Harcourt Theatre, 1985.

RECORDING: Ola Rotimi of Nigeria, Washington, D.C., Voice of America, 1978.

OTHER: "Traditional Nigerian Drama,'' in Intro­duction to Nigerian Literature, edited by Bruce King (Lagos: Evans / New York: Africana, 1971), pp. 36-49;

"Drama," in The Living Culture of Nigeria, edited by Saburi 0. Biobaku (Lagos: Nelson, 1976), pp. 33-37.

SELECTED PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS -

L c\ \ b \ 2-5 7 ~ot-=;_ro .~ . +s: 65 lo\30\q2

tv\~STEJ2-

j.

------------

OlaRotimi

UNCOLLECTED: "The Man and the Black Mos­quito," Interlink, 4, no. 2 (1968): 29;

"The Drama in African Ritual Display," Nigeria/ ~ Magazine, 99 (1968): 329-330. .

Emmanuel Gladstone Olawale Rotimi, popu­larly known as Ola Rotimi, is a playwright, direc­tor, producer, actor, critic, scholar, and teacher. In 1959, as one of the first three Nigerians (the other being Joel Adedeji and Yemi Lijadu) to receive a Nigerian Government Scholarship to study drama, he attended Boston University, earning his B.F.A. in 19630 Then he specialized in playwriting and o I directing at the Yale School of Drama and devel-oped skills that have him one of Africa's most popu-lar dramatists~eater directors. His popularity derives from his use of a language capable of reach-ing a large audience of theatergoers and his ability to sustain dramatic interest through sheer mastery of stagecraft.

Born to parents who did not speak the same language (a Yoruba father, Samuel Enitan Rotimi, and an !jaw mother, Dorcas Oruene Addo Rotimi), Ola Rotimi grew up in circumstances that made the problem of language and communication a real issue in interpersonal relationships. His early inter­est in theater and particularly in play directing was stimulated by his father who, although a steam­launch engineer by profession, directed and pro­duced amateur theatricals. Beginning in 1963, while on a Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship, Ola Rotimi received professional training as a dramatist at Yale's School of Drama under John Gassner, one of America's distinguished dramatic critics, and Jack Landau, a professional New York director; Rotimi earned his M.F.A. in 1966. Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again premiered at Yale that year, was published in 1977, and gives greater evidence of Yale's influence on Rotimi than do his later plays, beginning with The Gods Are Not to Blame (per­formed, 1968; published, 1971), which is a rework­ing, in terms of Yoruba culture, of Sophocles' Oedi­pus Rex.

The Gods Are Not to Blame established Rotimi as a significant African playwright and director. The play reflects the extent of his commitment to oral tradition and to the deployment of an appropriate theatrical language to render an interpretation of Nigerian history and relate that history to recent happenint This avowed double purpose propels his S \ plays. His efforts to domesticate the English Ian- ) guage, by striving to temper its phraseology to the ear of both the dominant, semiliterate masses and the literate classes so that the dialogue in his plays

2

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-- . ----·---------·----·-- --------- ·-·-- ------------------- --- ·--

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reaches out to both groups, initially claimed most of his attention. But in confronting the language ques­tion, Rotimi came to realize that his real concern as an artist was to transcend aesthetics and communi­cate a relevant message, one that explored the past in order to comment on the present.

Rotimi appreciates the value of history for an understanding of present sociopolitical problems. He feels that "every writer - whether a dramatist, novelist or poet - should have some commitment to his society. It's not enough to entertain; the writer must try to excite people into thinking or reacting to the situations he is striving to hold up to them in his drama or narrative." This search for social rele­vance is a major concern in his recent plays, .lf (performed, 1979; published, 1983) and Hopes ef the Living Dead (performed, 1985; published, 1988).

Rotimi's Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again_,/ paints a picture of Nigeria as a country ready for political exploitation. It is a hilarious politicodomestic comedy in which the typical Niger­ian politician is portrayed as a charlatan rather than a patriot. The published play appears to have been extensively revised, for it reflects more of the Nige· ria of the "oil boom" period than it does of the country during the period of Rotimi's studies in the United States (1959-1966). The aftermath of the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) and the military government's promise of a return to civilian politi­cal rule loom large in the play, which satirizes the protagonist's acquisition of excessive influence and wealth.

Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again focuses on a former military major who leaves a lucrative cocoa business for party politics. Maj. Rahman Taslim Lejoka-Brown has seen military service in the Congo, and during his absence his father has mar­ried him to Mama Rashida, his deceased elder brother's oldest wife, without his consent. While in the Congo, Lejoka-Brown married Liza, a Catholic Kenyan nurse whom he encouraged to go to the United States to study medicine. Lejoka-Brown re­turns home to enter big-time politics and gets mar­ried to a third wife, Sikira, the daughter of the president of the Nigerian Union of Market Women. Lejoka-Brown then works out a plan that ensures his political future after the election, a future into which each of the three wives will fit. The situa­tional comedy turns on his cunning manipulation of domestic circumstances to achieve political goals. The three wives represent three kinds of women: Mama Rashida is an illiterate traditionalist who accepts the situation with calm and mature deco­rum. Sikira is a radical young woman whose back-

OlaRotimi

OlaRotimi

ground and disposition tend toward aggression and overconfidence. Liza is an educated, W esternizcd, sophisticated young woman whose Catholic up­bringing and acquired cultural habits are opposed to polygamy and chicanery. The high-water mark of the comedy is reached in the explosive interplay of the three women within the network of deceit set up by the exuberant Lejoka-Brown, who is always face­tiously noting the common ground between tactics in military warfare and those in politics, especially the "surprise-and-attack" strategy.

The sociopolitical commentary in the play is submerged beneath forced comic situations and¥ far-fetched knockabouts, but these extraordinary events are the primary source of humor and reveal Rotimi's robust approach to comedy. He is more interested in exploiting language to sustain the light mood than in attempting to treat the problems that have erupted in Nigeria in the wake of party and tribal politics and the interventions of the military. The skillful combination of a variety of languag~ from pidgin to a broken English that incorporates words from familiar local languages, contributes a great deal to the comic energy and enables Rotimi to achieve his ambition to reach a large and varied audience.

When Rotimi returned to Nigeria he had been married for a year to the former Hazel Mae Gaudreau (with whom he later had four children). He soon became a research fellow in drama at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ife, where from 1975 to 1977 he headed the Department of Dramatic Arts. Research MATTElb very much to Rotimi, informing his concept of playwriting and directing. He once stated that "historical resources offer possibilities for matching the human concerns of the past with issues that preoccupy us today." Rotimi uses his plays to draw such parallels and to show his audience that previous generations, de­spite their "obvious debilitating handicaps," were able to "grapple with certain sociopolitical problems that threatened their survival." This fact may help inspire present generations to deal with contempo­rary political problems.

The God.J Are Not to Blame is not a historical play that re-creates Nigeria's distant past. It is con­cerned with more recent events. Roti~ inspired by the Oedipus myth, wanted to criticizept ethnic strife and affirm models of heroism and patriotism, so he transferred the Greek story to Nigeria/, adapting it to conform to local culture. The gods are not mystic deities of an African pantheon but rather political powers outside the African continent. These "gods are not to blame" for the fall of any man who brings

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r.

~\/\5LLQjt Kfd-ns (

4

DLB125 Ola Rotimi

disaster upon himself through his own machina· tions. The tragedy of Rotimi's hero is self-inflicted, as was the tragedy of Nigeria's civil war, an ethnic conflict Nigerians can only blame on themselves. The modified Oedipus myth thus illuminates con· temporary Nigerian political history.

In the play King Odewale, a stranger, becomes the ruler of Kutuje. He prepares for a peaceful and prosperous tenure. In spite of his birth into a world of predetermined conditions beyond his control, King Odewale convinces his people of his strong determination to seek and maintain their welfare. He is by nature an extremist who is also given to inquisitiveness, rash decisions, and errors in judg· ments. These affect his appraisal of the situation in his society and imperil his reign. He gouges out his own eyes when he discovers that he is the cause of the disaster that has engulfed his people and endan· gered the society. He takes his children away and abandons the society for an unknown destination. King Odewale's leadership and style of governance, however, point to the social relevance of collective leadership as an assurance for societal stability.

Kurunmi, Rotimi's next play (performed, 1969; published, 1971), concentrates on a hero who tries to uphold the dignity of tradition in the face of threats to the continued existence of his society. There is a general atmosphere of unrest and war threatening the Oyo Yoruba kingdom. Any more abuse of the age·old customs of the people will provoke the gods. The sanctity of honored tradi· tions makes a people honorable. Must a leader therefore bow to the forces of changep even when J-"L such a change is harmful and ill motivated? Kurunmi, the Are-Ona-Kakarifo leader of the empire, believes he must defy the pressure that undermine tradition. What is the relevance of tradition when the society demands change and the collective will of the people becomes the enabling force? Rotimi's play exposes his sympathy for inevitable change. Kurunmi plunges the state into war and ultimately becomes a victim of his own free will and action. With Kurunmi's loss and death, the forces of change win, but in the end the society suffers . The search for a patriotic leader and true nationalism continue.

Holding Talks (performed, 1970; published, 1979) has been described as an absurdist allegory. It depicts how people at critical points can dissipate their energies in interminable discussions instead of taking immediate action that results in straightfor· ward solutions to pressing human problems. A man dies, and those investigating the cause focus not on vital issues but turn their attention to different or·

OlaRotimi

gans of the corpse. In this way Rotimi exposes to ridicule the ineffectiveness of certain social institu· tions, such as the church, the school, the press, and the diplomatic service. Although Holding Talks does not entirely succeed as a political statement, it does succeed as an entertaining comedy. It pokes fun at the inept behavior of some African political leaders and heads of government in the mid 1970s and satirizes intei:national politics.

Ovonrat,en Nogbaisi (performed, 1971; pub­Jished, 1974)/ continues Rotimi's exploration of A theme of leadership and responsibility in a period of

crisis. Oba Ovonramwen of the Benin Empire is under pressure. His authority is threatened both internally and externally. Ovonramwen attempts to reassert the authority of Benin over the subject areas in rebellion, but h/e is confronted by a devas­tating attack by British' imperialistic forces. Rotimi sees the British punitive expedition of 1897 as un­warranted aggression by a group intent on subjugat· ing the might of Benin with a view to exercising British jurisdiction over the people's wealth and resources. Ovonramwen takes steps that show he lacks the quality of willpower necessary to reassert his diminishing authority and influence over his chiefs. The odds against him are overwhelming, and after he has been mischievously abandoned by his warlords, the British move in. Ovonramwen's strength of character in his final hour of surrender reveals that he is a heroic leader.

!f clearly expresses the wish for strong leader· ship, one with a rugged sense of responsibility and a commitment to "tearing everything apart and start· ing the entire nation-building process all over again, this time with no tolerance whatsoever for the self­ish, nor for the expedient of double standards." The play captures the mood of the nation after the de­mise of Nigeria's Second Republic. Capitalism has been enthroned with its brutal machinery for ex· plaiting the masses. A chance for change exists "if the masses will use their votes as tools for their own freedom," but the entrenched capitalist system has cruelly dehumanized the oppressed and ultimately crushes their idealistic, enlightened leaders who have advocated solidarity with the masses.

In his latest play, Hopes qf the Living Dead, Rotimi returns again to his preoccupation with the concept of leadership and responsibility. This time, however, he seems to realize that history is more than a record of past events. The "Lepers' Rebel­lion" in Nigeria from 1928 to 1932 provides the background for the play, but Rotimi weaves a para­ble on the theme of "collective struggle" forged through gro up solidarity and communicated

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6

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through waves of petitions, delegations, and pro­tests by the lepers (the living dead) to the govern­ment in an effort to assert their legitimate right to exist.

The hero is a character based on Ikoli Har­court Whyte, one of forty lepers at Port Harcourt General Hospital who in 1924 underwent an exper­imental treatment for leprosy devised by a Scottish medical practitioner. In the play Harcourt Whyte organizes the leprosy patients to resist evacuation to their different villages after the abandonment of the experiment by the colonial administration. When offered special inducements to break with his fel­lows, Harcourt Whyte refuses the temptation and purposefully binds his ethnically diverse group into an effective political force. In the end the lepers prevail and march forward to a new settlement offered them by an image-conscious government. The "living-dead" thus compel the "dead-awaken" to recognize the humanity of the sick and downtrod­den.

Rotimi's genius and significance as a dramatist lie in his successful modification of traditional dra­matic form and content and his creation of a lan­guage appropriate to the mass audience he wishes to address. For him, theater is a celebrative event, allegorical in essence and capable of capturing the spirit of communal participation. His importance will emerge with time, for he will continue to de­velop new ways of articulating political ideas through the medium of popular theater. Since 1977 he has headed the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Port Harcourt.

Interviews: Margaret Folarin, "Ola Rotimi Interviewed," New

Theatre Magazine, 12, no. 2 (1972): 5-7; Bernth Lindfors, ed., Dem-Say: Interviews with Eight

Nigerian Writers (Austin: African and Afro­American Studies and Research Center, Uni­versity of Texas, 1974), pp. 57-68;

John Agetua, ed., Interviews with Six Nigerian Writers (Benin City, Nigeria: Bendp Newspapers, 1976), pp. 28-33;

Dapo Adelugba, An Interview . . . with Ola Rotimi, Senior Research Fellow, Institute qf 4frican Studies, University qf .[fe, lle-.[fe (Ibadan: Department of Theatre Arts, University oflbadan, 1984);

Understanding The Gods Are Not to Blame: A De­tailed Interview with Ola Rotimi on His Award-Win­ning Tragedy (Lagos: Kurunmi Adventures, 1984);

Onuora Ossie E nekwe, "Interview with Ola Rotimi," Okike, 25-26 (1984): 36-42;

OlaRotimi

7

OlaRotimi

Lee Nichols, African Writers at the Microphone (Wash­ington, D.C.: Three Continents, 1984);

Don Burness and Mary-Lou Burness, eds, , Wanasema: Genc1e1ttio11s with African Writers (Ath­ens: Ohio University Center for International Studies, African Studies Programs, 1985).

Bibliography: 0. 0. Lalude, Theatre Arts: Ola Rotimi and His Works :

An Annotated Bibliography (Port Harcourt, Nige­ria: University of Port Harcourt Library, 1984).

References: Z. A. Adejumo, "Transmuting History into Drama:

A Study of Ola Rotimi's Kurunmi and Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman," Lagos Review q[English Studies, 8 (1986): 186-200;

Dapo Adelugba, "Wale Ogunyemi, 'Zulu Sofola and Ola Rotimi: Three Dramatists in Search of a Language," in Theatre in Africa, edited by Oyin Ogunba and Abiola Irele (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1978), pp. 201-220;

Samuel 0. Asein, "The Tragic Grandeur of Ovonramwen Nogbaisi," Nigeria Magai.ine, 110-112 (1974): 40-49;

Martin Banham, "Ola Rotimi: 'Humanity as My Tribesmen,'" Modern Drama, 33 (1990): 67-81;

Brian Crow, "Melodrama and the 'Political Unconscious' in Two African Plays," Ariel, 14, no. 3 (1983): 15-31;

T. A. Ezeigbo, "Ola Rotimi and the Oedipus Leg­acy," Lagos Review qf English Studies, 6-7 (1984-1985): 175-185;

Alex C. Johnson, "Ola Rotimi: How Significant?," African Literature Today, 12 (1982): 127-153;

Johnson, "Two Historical Plays from West Africa," I Komparatistf./;e Hejte, 8 (1983): 39-54; ~

Akanji Nasiru, 'Ola Rotimi's Search for a Tech­nique," in New West African Literature, edited by Kolawole Ogungbesan (London: Heinemann, 1979), pp. 21-30;

Teresa U. Njoku, "Influence of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex on Rotimi's The Gods Are Not to Blame," Nigeria Magazine, 151 (1984): 88-92;

Chinyere G. Okafor, "Ola Rotimi: The Man, the Playwright, and the Producer on the Nigerian Theater Scene," World Literature Today, 64 (1990) : 24-29;

Kalu Okpi, "Ola Rotimi: A Popular Nigerian Dra­matist and Man of the Theatre," Literary Crite­rion, 23, nos . 1-2 (1988): 106-117;

V. U. Ola, "The Concept of T ragedy in Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are Not to Blame," Okike, 22 (1982) : 23-31;

8

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\ (_2)

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Femi Osofisan, Beyond Translation: Tragi,c Paradigms and the Dramaturgy qf Wole Soymka and Ola Rotimi (Ife, Nigeria : University of Ife, 1985);

Martin Owusu, Drama qf the Gods: A Study qf Seven African Plays (Roxbury, Mass .: Omenana, 1983) ;

Robert M. Wren, "Ola Rotimi: A Major New Tal­ent," Africa Report, 18, no. 5 (1973): 29-31.

. .

OlaRotimi

9

/ .. /

/' votes as tools for their own freedom," but the entrenched

capitalist system has cruelly dehumanized the oppressed and

ultimately crushes their idealistic, enlightened leaders who had

advocated solidarity with the masses.

In If, Rotimi breaks new ground. His commitment to nation­

building enforces a new dramatic technique, resulting in

adjustments to structure and technique. His superb skill in

manipulating characters to arouse sympathy is still evident,b ut

contradictions in their portrayal are obvious and distracting.

The message is clear, but the medium at times is too blunt .

; t--~..::·=-- i~:- T Rotimi' s genius and significance as a dramatist lie in his

(\_

successful modification of traditional dramatic form and content

and his creation of a language appropriate to the mass audience

he wishes to address. For him, theater is a celebrative event,

allegorical in essence and capable of capturing the spirit of

communal participation. His importance will emerge with time,

for it appears likely that he will continue to develop new ways

of articulating political ideas through the medium of popular

theater.

I terviews

Rotim~/9erview with m(r4et Folarin, Nel' Theatre Magazine

(B~istol 12, 2, 1972). 1

Ola ~,:,t~mi, rferview with Bern~h Lindfors, Dem Say (Texas: The

Universitty of Texas at Austin, 1974).

Ola Rotimi, rlterview with JohnlA.ef'~~ua, "Six Nigerian Writers" \._,./

(

f '

Ola Rotimi 9-/

( 13 April/_~~_38 - )

Joel Adedeji

¼fliver s f:ty of lbada~___,Q__ /J -I t '

A-f '""- Cov.cor- c! I CUV'u,d rres> cfj A( r;~,,.

- 2 -

Emmanuel Gladstone Olawa.J.e Rotimi, popularly kno~ as

Ola Rotim¾ is a playwright, director, producer, actor,

critic, scholar and teacher. As o~e of the first three

nigerians (the othersbeing Joel Adedeji and Yemi Lijadu)

to receive a ~igerian Government Scholarship to study

drama i~ 1959, he eve"tually specialiked in playwrjting 1 4-~d de11elope.J ski!:,

and directing at the Yale fchool of Drama ~ la e 1J1.:d ,¥es eJ.!:imgd more_ati~;.5:..l:!ega£~Sw6.a?g . j !! ib~-~

9:,,,£--__ ,,-q_s_,a,,1_ have made him one of Africa's most popular dramatists

and theatlf~ directors. --O-Ja.a:~, ~;f,-i-n;l-i-l,,_..-e-E~ri±IJ:t°t;;tml~:~~~~~=~~~~

c~~4cte~~l:aJ e - iJr~~~~e~ o~~t·j·~~~rjJ~.~~~~~t~n~'€t-a~~~~~~~~~~~~t;1:re

~~~~~,f~::~Ji'ftseraTY~a~ · -~4~~~~~ I' ,t / I / ,, ...... t ' ... .,.

., _ _ .... ,1 ..,i .,.~ ~ . .. · ....

-~ • J / ·. •·. I i -:rt/ J' J ;· .,, I ..,. ; L . .·' eiKc -~~ 'tru{ · .• C01'iSciousTiW~~~. popularity ,

is ~lxe1T~~--~~-~~~;~-~~ de.--i.ve.~ .fro&"\ f-u's e,.....f lo;;..,_e.-::t- !'b t>-. t~"'{jv.-a...p- '<-¥~ u6 qt:.-:bj s experime=it ~ la,,gttage aim~ reaching a large

n t) b I I 1 1 lJ --f-o audie.,,ce of ·cheat:;re goers a,.,d o,:ie:;ftF Sbher, °"I- his .se::s!i.il1 JJtvy

\__.I

~ sustain~ dramatic interest through fiiii.. sheer

mastery of s-cagecraf~ a,'!d -~e s1'.i.ll of fiilP:!Fauei,.,g mass

Born ·co parents who did -,,ot speak the same la,,.,guage :Z:-,j It w

(a Yoruba father, Samuel Enita~1and a~ I;JE> mother, Dorcas

orueTI~, Ola Rotimi grew up ·i~ circums~a~ces that made

' the problem of la~guage a~d communica-cion a real issue 11

~ in-cerpers onal relatio'!'lshipsr,-y,...d ~Dl?OiJJJ ity :er& il'lte~?<­

His early iTiterest i,., the -Chea~ a.,,d particularly in play dire-. st,.,.,.~.ro+ed ~

ctb,g was ee oc l:Op"e'~ by his father who) al·chough - a steam•

lau.,,ch e.,,gineer by professi on, directed a,,.,d produced amateur

Drama under the late John Gass,,er, o~e of America's

disti,.,guished dramatic critiq;a~d the late Jack La~dau, I

a prof essional ttew York direc-c or. .ll'·his happetted betJnte en _. .. . -w~--//2.1>+;1'1\.t- held /..

1-96J ·a~'o6' - ~ a -RU-cke:fe-t·1e"F-Fou..,da1.ion· schohn-sttf1:>~· '-,{_

~ Our Husba,,d ~as Go~e Mad .AgaiTI./;hich was premiered at 'J \ >J e. s g ,.:earTe! I"' e V ( d e..,..vi. ! I .

Yale in 1966 i s ~ e .-·iee"t of aits Yale's i ,iflue,,ce, o .,,_ '1 '""-f

d o ~ than A his ~ater play~ begi nning wi-ch 'fhe Gods Are 7-lot To

~ wii.tc~ wa..S ~ · Blame~, a reworki,.,g in erms of Yoruba culture of Sophocles • e---._; ,t . r::~ Oedipus Rex__:) Published i,, 1971, The Gods Are ~ ot to

~---Blame flB established Ola Rotimi ~ a significa"t J.

r e-Ple"-rS Af r i ca~ playwrig h-c and a play direct or. The play rAliPN N ~ Q__,

tri i' s rh LP the e~t;e:,,1t of Iii is in:~ commitmer,t_ c; s;i oral tradition a-r,d . 0

1.u.. d ejO ft>~ IM.~of 0-vr 0-{'flror~, ,,J:ii_ ~ri co-f/ I~ +o re.,.._d e r" · ~ ~~e-s -·a-s .i;he--,p.l.aG.e--e£-·l a -~bl-a.g~---i-"'- -ohe--th-ea·tr-e-1'-:::: · ____ __

~11 tnf-er f re-f-o.. ft~ c1 11/ i'9err'o--.. '1 ,s+ory tr,,...,;t-· r ef,.:fes ~ h1r .f-d,v ~ w,oere rhe r.ro rber t_p~s., 1 n_ .conf: li.c.:t&-Wilih....EA.gli~

,e o.o-nd -l . guage-··, -ne- u·h e .. kxt·eiit---t-o- v?1i "Ch -s·oc±9;,.,p,e..l4t-:i--c-a I I I ' !.~. - - -?"! o sider t . ·' --npc::r,s-ofr,-a±-~hoi-ce--cuunto y--,--~- afro,.,'

.,E: J ira~a t : a lly us;~ t ~~---del~~ . - he• ·per' ·0'1'l•a l :i;-cy - a:rrd-' \ ~ ~, ____.,-<,-·,:.,-· \

. / -~--~,..-~ .l~ _0:f~ some.. . ..g..I::-ea~·arrre-s- -of i1r1g e-ria~· his·t-ery---i-~

· - ~··'"~ · ··- . do[.(.fi-t.. ~ ece,.,t happer,ings. rt i s this avowed~purpose .-cha t

do,,..,.es+,cc,..-t; propels his plays. Clea rly, his efforts to h? :i:.1€~ the

ET'lglish ~r,gu age ~1• t t?fi.iisi , by strivi,.,g fto ·i;emper its

phraseol ogy to the ear of bo,;h -che · domi,., aTit semi-l i terate ~ t ~$ es ~ ..-...&. 9-' ,:f 0

':3il5: tre-3 ~ -che li-c erate classes tf",.. arti &iltltiii. 11 t18i.;r e~ supi,.,g .. § .,,..,- ;"l '1;~ ;,(o/. '

tha,:; the Arctialo.gue.ttrea ches out to both groups.I ~~~ ~'l~e i11 ,. M/rl~ ,l--

aSS.i:ID'Ha{a,Qn and. cJ ari tl{ .in i d e nt.iiiGra;t iQ• "'> ~ claimed .M<'> I of h 1s ~ a1ite -n-cio~ Gt :iil 1iii:i -*• But i ,, co.,.,frontii,g 1i he ,

v~ r ea 11-z.,e l a,.,gua ge quest i on' Rotimi hes C Om@ to ree.a ta:e:::.fact

1,HS tha t his r eal COl'lceN\ as a -n a r tist .a to t r a ASc e nd

the p r ovi,.,ce of ~ ae s the t ics -&£ ~i.s crea.t a.on, 4i.·s ::::-a~::wt,1"4F:..;,_ _.

4" ~..Ji ----·--- --=--.l".:.- -~--~ - ~ o. a.1 't a r; J:,....w;11aec£ 1:!)7:r:'7!-,our i ng esse~e· ~ &+i a t bis trh,_"lw.""~

~ Com~ u.1" , ~ ~-::t; a v-- c, f e v a-...± rf e S $()./_fl. / ~ ~ -e.)<'f fore d ~ - / c,. -f + ,.., o,clo; +o Ct'~#'1',e-.. f' ~ ~ f (PJP-....i,

- 4 -

soul I\ • \ J ,I / r

h:t \ a,., art i\t mu~/ aiim at_ J ipovi-ri~~:,.,P-~st t_o. "ccmfro.,.,t the

l7cr¥cance \ _JI the~5ese,,t.

14 p,Miffit'i:ug~,a~r,ea'b~~ Rotimi appre-jWt/Jo rt"~. I

ciates the value of research a.,.,d the •-P&J.Yv&IEK>e of history To a~ r

.;;a.~ understa~ding of~ prese~t socio-political l+e- {'e e !> ~

problems. T-l:le-.~!1.i,,:is..cxu.t,a,.b,a..- -~~-&-f- 4;,b~.-&. t\-Pe-*-man...---c:::;_

~'ffie"Q ta 1 · pr

whether a dramatist, novelist or poet-should have some ,::r: f I~

commitme.,.,t to his society. ~ ~ot e.,.,ough to e.,.,tertain;

the wri~er must try to exci~e people iTito thinking or

reacting to the situatio.,.,s he is s ·c; riyi.,.,g to hold up to ?7--,,,,... ,$"1?..ol"C~

them irt his drama or 1tarrative 11 • ,'f4:l:e a tea for "social . '1"' s b~t:'o~ o__ M.a_J. P<r ~ ~ Rot-1'""-"' 1 '.s-

releva-r,ce 11 ~ - :Ui.e- dra~ of a peo~-h-as-~-e..come .in_c.re~y rec.e..v(- (>lo-r- 1 es f ee 1·~97. :i;_f ~ ~ ~ ~ L~v,·,,,, 1>??dJ~

~~o.f-Ola-·R-eti:mi i11 h±s mo1 e Peoo""'t play:s 'beginning

w· th ~~ (1983)/ a soc~o-poli-cica trageJ y tha~ ,r:es.ults

frof failure to apprete,id a~d therer;re, c0/ fro,it /

t e ,is~ues of l]over~y a"/d del'ri atioTI af d i,,clf ding / 'Hopes

f i helLi v iTi g ~ adP, a" /hist ori1cal! drarf,a o,, t~e mes s;ege I I' ( / \/ I/ ,,. '/ lr/ coml i;ted l ~~e~ship[~;1~atio.,.,;·1 solig,a"ri-cy at:ict se~~

Mlian~.

Rotimi' s :firs-\; play, Our Hus.band Has G.one Mad Again)

~ published ter\ yea.t'S after i ts premiere at Yale., a..

paints i::Re pictu.L·e of 7f1geria as a country ready for "Qe.. f)o f i {-, er~ ~ xp (o, f "-+1 l.>vf • J ~xp±oios ef politi~ f whom the wigerian electarat-e

- &hot2Ia-1Y~-wart.red. It is a hilari ous politico-domestic

comedy i"l"'I

"l\'tigeria,,

Which t!) L? CJJt!;Z:f&ttili'il:9~8i'i8CS- the typical ,s ;u·-t-r ""'~ -II,_~ <1--1

polit icia"' as ~a char lat at-C I •d patriot < -A I ~ V

- 5 -

' af'f€{1.{5,

~'.]'3;:;h,co~s4:de-11a;t~ -fhe published play ~ to have ext~,~ u~ Cy -for .

bee,-, pre£wse:ly revise~ s; s~ it reflects more of ~igeria ~ .Y' 1t does .,.f _ ..

of the "oil boom' period• tha"' the cou'l"ltry of wh!Ch =tht: I\ ' >

o....---.w~~aJa~~?-e-1ft'lll10~b~te-lt'.JrcC'O'onnssuc'l:i-001t1u:ss dur i 'l"I g "the period of ~ ~c +' l,A1 1 ~

a. .f.f-err-. a. f-t, " f studies i~ the U"'ited States (1959-1966). The P.:§j?j;i f$sr

(l't{,7-t'f~O) ~ A the ~igeriaTI Civil Warja,-,d the military gover,-,me,-,ts pro-

t> Ji. lfi_vi I i ~ _to I, t, r-d -~ mise of returi, to pelit~omf' largely ~nd< Lhe eleetie,,

' j.., A I [ +· . A Id . I L "'I ! ~ ( v> MA. C.."\ _s:.._, l r" I ~e .S 0,,. 1\ -e,_ )< - S () I e r '.S j

i"'-"ti e ~ I' ~ 1 ~lit ieal office so ems tflu flib.the I o:y al road

::1 tRii'- acquisitio'l1 of execessive il'lflue,,ce a,-,d wealtha~

or a / fo mey a/y m . or. The .,· lay c;tptur,,e t~e pe iod Q_

Ir 'r ti '/'/ i7ty111.~ avak -'sure you ge elec•eV

ko ,Jrl/r!d..

our Husba"'d Has Gone Mad Again focuses o,-, a f ormer o._

military major who leaves -fir!, aest11 ea a'"'d lucrative

cocoa busi"'ess for party politics. Major Rahma~ Taslim

Lejok~-':Brown s@w military service i~ the co"'g°.; a"'d

duri"'g his abse,,ce his f ather married him to Mama Rashida,

his deceased elder brother's oldest wife without his CO'nsento ho.J I

While i'n the Col'lgo he himself~ married iii' Liza, a

Catholmc Kel'lya~ ~urse whom hf~Ticouraged to go to the /\

U"'ited States of America to study medicine. Lej oka­-h> ~

Brow,, retur,-,s home~ big-time politics a~d gets I"\

married to a third wife, Sikira, the daughter of the

President of the ~igerian Union of Market WomeTl. He

works out a pla1\ that e.,..sure.S bis political @ t ; cs ~,..fv.r-e. ~ {'1,<+ .... ...-e-

af"ter t~e election1-=a i"'to which each of the three ·wives~

~~ \\ +t+, On: tb:0::::;;J:75)$ ;:,- k 9 u L.&Ei. The si tuatio"al comedy turns

~ rt on Le j oka-Brown' s e_un'l'I ing l.ei5.ZII bnjk: t:t, manip'4 ( a..J--r ~'1 of

circumstances to

achieve poli"tical goals.

three Ki,,ds of wome~: Mama Rashida is an illiterate

traditio"'alist who accepts the situation with calm a"'d ,.,,,.a..-f<-<re.,

- 7

local languages coi,tribm:;e5 a great deal to the p;Iay' s . e'ri.e.0)':f I ev1.a.lles /2o+,-l'Y\; fo Cl,.c.~i-E>ve. '1,s

comic ~en:e-s ai,d m-O;S:t 0ffect iveJ y TMHfvr ce 0..""" k, ; f-/u YI ( d2.. Y-j e.,

'c:?"" :R&l...iw,ltiiC-? ;;t,. 1;0 reach a v~: :.id!e aT'ld varied attd-

ier,ce. w~ A Ola Rot i~i

emi;l .. J IJd ~he

t"\.

he 1 L d retur-,,ed to ~igeria 1n 1966 a!!lll- was Y..f~~

I ---- -Universitl._ of Ife. i =Fr .. ~~ a Research

Fellow ii, Drama at the Institute of Africa~

Qyid·e:r,t j n --b4-s- -f,ips,:t--Suc.ce&S~~-4=W-~-ii.~g

T!!h~ebfG~A~d~s~-~A.:r::e~v~o~t~·l'~o~B~J~.m!!!!e::- ;((..11~9.:i·w..;>-::ai~~~~~le.l!Ui::~:tay-s:-;-- ~

__ t.b.e context %9:fl reJ-ewm:;c:e: 'y~s~ te the co11eept of , ~ -------------.te2J..', f1~e,; ea.-r'- ~ , to

~2 ;tffg~ p;lfi) .. ~= e di::-g "ma-cter.sv~ry much to Rotimi1 't-i y-,,.,,~ {rt, s Cm,,. "~f~ play wv--1 ~ cJ-,....JJ jJ t ,,.:J cl r ve cf-, "'s> , 1-./-e-~ s~ HP M1F£QJ;jrgca l Jy.. exr 3 ;, ed that 11hist orical resources

-tt,,a. offer possitili·c;ies for ma1;ehiT1.g/l-huma,, co,,cen15 ef the past

with issues that pr~~ccupy us todar~

t!l:i:s reas.Qn~ c;~-~~i ··~se;··h.i;-p l ~ys to dra~ll~~rallels ~ 9 /,,.b iJ ht..r a.'-ld, . .....,.<:.St -t~ f r'".e.vco\.{5. ~e-..~Jvo..4--; desfri-E?

Miring PQg@rd to. his co.rvioti OT> tlaaii s~.fil-reieears" Q.___

i,-,pit:e:.-ef their "obvious debilitatir,g ha~dicaps1i•were

able to 11grapple with certair, socio,J;olitical problem~ Q) '--' ~ he.ff Tc>

that threate,-,ed their surviva:g1 / tllero hi~ ~upif-i~ i'visfcf'e. ~ fre,r~_:,~ +o d <.,JiK

ca4;j :" ,,ay 'tJ& -9S Uth:e If' !tf:fR;pri'°'g" -shbi1 IB';,g:t ptili to C2=.:.: sz__ ~~:~:~u J~~~~~~1£[c~~:~e;;;;h9 &d\f&:18ageS ~

1ii.Q.!'s which

~sequences of ms a"O't-i-G-ltt c... The troi.gedy of Rotimi•,s her9 ·/ _',.)0-.s S:e(f-, ..... -fl (cf.e d, "-S wa. s f1--J- +r-1>-. A/( J Ctvt w~v/

~~ e~~,<- G.? ~££c~t~r1~~~~r~ ~-~' ~ ~ ' -...A -fi.-,....-:, t( ( lJ.M.'-~ I'~ • ' PD/;-,..;;;;:,- h 1th f ~ , oe J\f lLS ··, . • • t ........ ~ - _,_-_z-_,- - /,_. . i

~ a"f vonramwen baisi ...,.."""""" They are

prod ts of research ,-,d quest

crea,:;ive

i-r,to his treat \ /

pa-c·~1 ot ism .,./4ct '- I'

langs'ef~.e wbich ,,,~:

the SPJ,,.'l"t,f'adictio,...s ,:;ha peculiar to -

in/ /

co,-,t mporary

9"i.st orical I

s co.,,tempora.ry ..,/

his heroes,./ as ,I' ..,.

"" ys/ to V

Africa.

explore tbemes

fortunes

the viciSSitudes of t e,rr socie1. ies. He , .. / ,, ·

bey9-,-{ct 1ihe co.,.,text o/ s /

as a

a tradii:;io.,.,al

n i alisl_Il--· a"" d _,,,/

·'ership roles

s ,, relevant · to

treats

~atio,-,alism as a force of cha,...ge a.,.,d sista,-,ce, to threats that -affect- · n 2t i onaJ.: _j<ere~,.,,..Md seo-4~~ ~ -::. ::

The c_o~? :::Arg ;'.!036 -~2 !£§JI!1e d!f1a~€; r¥ri;;J3l.leS1il.OT1 ,,,,.. . ., .. - - <:.. ~-~ _____ ,,,.

o.t~ ~o1t¥'Wsili--an±] :j 1:y:-a'l"ld--t he r-el;-Q;f A;jj s~· J~~- . ,,._ :s--t..- ,,,_1,,1er

Ki""g Qdewale becomes the ruler of Kutuje....~ the role of ~ ti J\ I "_)

/

' ..a.tr<la,ger~ . \ He

/ -t- () 11"­

prepares ~ to a sUFe a peaceful and prosperous

- 9 -

tenure. I" spite of his birth i"to a world of

predetermi,...ed co.,.,ditions which are beyo"d his co,,,trol,

Ki"g Odewale co"vinces his people of his strong deter­

mination to seek a"d mai,..,~ai" their welfare. He is by

,...a·ture a,.., extremist who is also give" to inquisitive,.,ess, e -rro ( s ;,,.., _j t{ ~ ..... Q---.::r-:

rash decisio"s and ~~~ereme.,.,+ a ]" rli spce i ~i.g,,..._ These d- f/ (0..W,•-~- •

a f fect his jwigem&#t of -t;he situa·cio"' i"\ his society

and imperil his reig~. He gouges out his owr, eyes

when he discovers that he is the cause of the disaster

t hat has e,...gulfed his people q~d e""da-r1.gered ·1,he society. l{vJIHf

He takes his chi l dre~ ,ililiit and aba,...do,..,s t he society for a,.., r'

u,...k"ow" desti,.,at io,..,. King Odewale•s leadership a"d

style of gove~ance1 howeve ~ poi" L t o t he social

releva,..,ce of collect ive leader ship as a" as surance for

s oci e~al st abiliGy. vi i's )1\-exr p-f 11..;/J

Kururimi (--19~ conce.,., ·trates -+ries -f--o J I\

hero who~uphol dJ the

on t he fortu"e of a

dig,...ity of trad i i..ion i l".. the face h~~

of threats to the co"ti,...ued existe"ce of~ society. G....._

There is~ ge"eral atmosphere of u~rest arid war ~1o£.t~e.

tbreatel'\h"g t he Qyo Yoruba ki'!"'t gdom. A11y mo.re 1i iP¥BB'iy f th ld u. c, w'dl- · · 0 e age o c,astlams o f the people ~ou~ provoke the gods.

It is the sanctity of hono1red tradftio-;:,s t hat makes _.., v . a people hol"o1'rable·. Must a

.. V .. -- I

'-- leader Gheref ore bow GO ·Ghe forces of cha~ge eveyt i.! hov.._.f""- ( o-..Q Lt/- M-of, v1<..f-~ d. ?

_O wheri such change;=-"d I e-- e v4ae'fice ef' -vested 1,.., ter·es,t;,s -...__,

art-d--±rrat"io,,.,~ ~ Ku""ru"mi, the Are-Ona-Kaka"'f o

(Generalissimo} o::' ;;he 9yo Yoruoa _empir e, b~lieves that '1 e r'v\..l~.S 1- die f'f Mfi '(' e ~ > ~ v-.e..s ~ u...._ d er Y"tl r1-e +-vi). d I ft O "'- '

l eaelu s h:ip ~ Q ~eSpOT'-5.i~ii. l ¼t.¥ d-e f y , n at Von ali:.w. WQ€1"1 ,--'<.__,

~di vid<l:tB.1. i"'~9-S-t s d~ i: e_r1.m,ine- ..ae e-Oor.:M e£ ae t;::i:~

Wh at is ·Ghe r eleva,..ce of ·t; r adi t i o" whe"'l ·l.ihe emer:g:e~

~ socie~y dema~dj change a"'d ~he ·collective will

or ~he pe opl e be comes ~he e~ab l i~g for ce? Thes e are

the se ar chi,..,g quest io,.., s i ,.., Rot imi ' s Kuru~mi a~d his I

- 10 -

treatment of the hero exposes his sympathy for inevitable

change. Kurunmi plunges ~::::tee'~:::::::~ jw-gment and will do not ,.-.,. -·-::c:=:.---~~ -------of his 'defcnee--e-f......t;.rad:i-tio11. So he ultimately becomes a victim

of his own free will and action. With Kurunmi's loss and death ~ -

the forces of change win t;he.. ear:eH:1ntes but in the end society 5 L<"~rs, .I ---..;.."'---------

~ s J oft- ; n let::\c end soci etr ; a le£t in tlie lurG-h. C..The search

~ or a patriotic leader and true nationalism continue. /?.pf;.,.,.; 1s exflor o .. .+t'o ,.,, of J

~----v-Ovonramwen Nogbaisi ntinues~the theme of leadership eo.......

and responsibility in~ period of crisis. Oba Ovonranwem of

the Benin Empire is under pressure. His authority is threatened

both internally and externally@ o~:inowsJy co the eve of the

~ue fes tival wbieh •::::::::s:; ::::~:~ ~¥?9--?thrftmmed·J - - -----~ ~~1---=-- -L __ t ioQ.......t ~ "-·

_9--- ..£ac.e- a...t,wow~ p,onged"""at"tack=.- on the one-·har,e bvonramwen at tempts

to re'lassert the authority of Benin over the subject areas in '-../ lo t,i..+-

re be 11 ion and--oR the fl!w::, he is confronted by a devastating I

attack from British imperialism. Rotimi sees the British

punitive expedition of 1897 as an unwarranted aggression by an

imperialist force intent on subjugating the might of Benin with

a view to exercising British jurisdiction over the people's

wealth and resources. A-e~t:-thtte~r~ee-:f~o0-1;:r:.ee~uus~e~sL~tJJhLseusut::.irc.,aa.t:.teegg~~~~--~

imension o

ola.e.t'.S.tu.Jl-i3S-~tla-e-~~17e'E?"n"-e-ttecti::-vem"E!'Sl~ &nd-+e..Ji:.t;b.J:~;,hjtness_

,~~ u;..1.Q.1~ oaRn&tt--ct--a~tlesst1ess on the -o·theI. _J

-4e.t:crmi nation .. Ovonramwen takes a number of steps which show

that he lacks the quality of will-power necessary to reassert

his diminishing authority and influence over his chiefs.

The odds against overwhelmi'l"\g a""'d

/

- 11 -. '-e li_o._ s l, ee..., him are ~ f +e, I'\ - ____ ____;,,--

0.. " bic:vi~g-=-@l!W>Zi ·mischievously aba'l"\d0'1"1Cd

by his war lords I tb'ch1tce-:ri,..1"1-€-e¥Y~i-l.t-ea~b...i.l..fiiet,,..> -ig~a~t~e~WIC.o@i;}'f::. .. =:=t~oth!l:J:ts' s ~ov-e in.,

e;cajctnHd:y 1J¥,:the British ¥,.:,Ae~eleosly fh:t1 ,t; e190--.. ~

ovo""'ramwe.,.,' s e;q; ... stre-ngth of character i.,., his 1

.

~ vt-e l.S fi.,.,al hour of surre""der w-s~ Sll:fPWRFi J;: reveals h~ .--=,.;

~~l~i::::~~,_____, ~~·~:S-Pvi C2

Ro +11'1\.i's nex:-F 1fo...J1 1-t~s bee-vi HoldiJ\g Talks ~ .a described by "ti:he<~ >

'/ I\.

as a~ absurdist allegory. I~ depicts how man at

critical peinis dissipates his ei,ergies ~ i,iter-:: 'i:J. . , f '{S ~.o.d a_-fr: +a k,~

mi""able tRiiJ, Qda&.2 g .~ di:=3cussio-r1s ~Jie,-t;}, r e:>u ( K /11 r1. -N.AJ,J2_

c5fJ immediate actio.,., that A alil a straight forward.,.-~

+c ,./,. ~!~i~n~d~j~_-i:eg~?E3irl:~· ..;i;1;;.fAt.ee dif .Lere,,t orga,.,s of the corpse. ~ 1 ~ ~

C) In ts@ ~rooess Rotimi exposes to ridicule the ii,effect-~ . ~ ~6-y

ive,.,ess of certai-n sn, · tal iTI.Stitutio-ns WM the . ~ "\ cl1p_fo~I I

Church, Ghe SChOol1 ~ the press 8T1d ex"6endg th':r>S- ._· 5e.tlilt.e· •

te,.,dency o:t; :3..,t.c.,:r;:rninahJe a-nd -1nQ..Q..,.,seq11 e:t11;i aJ irattr~s _/

t ~~4:lt4©~wa~tijS"lt ·be= &fives---------------------fQ;C_e~~f-?.ir s and i--trt.@f'riatio'nal re.J.atlo,.,s ·.

. eri.·-h'v--e. f-.t.J . ~'t, Holding ·t alks does- not~succeed · · ......:::..~ a

the ~unilst ~ 6 -5:::..ST>~~,~

t1;>p1..gb:t al'ld . .e::t'iw;d;;+ftiatt because- it :fil:t.ls:: flat O'n its 2

.face af b91=-l'.01i.r"·:.r,;rg'1±s~-~IP§ C ra:nas'~ 'o~.;i,.a.il-4sm-,-.l)__ a. ; 0 (,f<c& .,;f-d~~ fi}kf- d- doc::-s

--U. H•Ov-er succeecltas an e1"1tert ai,.,i,.,g comedy. t, -1 - . - '\_

. s crucial , .9dmixture, ~-~_:~~;Y Talks r:. 7kes -'i s~ues -

Ii t th7i imporfa-nce ~/4,1 d'ialo~6e/ as ar, e,sise,-,t ~~f /

. /, 1 ! , · , 11· s ! ct/ 0,- er,~ izey e/ist~,fc.e :and ,.eal 11 f~1/ ~.eryt~ble 1 rd7·r s ,flip· rofes;anct fro/'pt1t~ct~,.1-w as•.~/s igry~ m~0

of~jesp~ysibi;~Y· ,___. ~·'

- 12 -

~r'i-~e~1ia pl'ey pokes fun at ~Ii. e 1'4gmaro }&; of :Lu:L:ez 11a L:i:oA-a-1

~!-es _aRd the inept behavio!r.of some African political~ /11 ~ e.x;oses

leaders and heads of government .df the mid-seventies, t-l"lerie

~' 1f"1'"~P.,.,,r,~rr·.~,.,.J , .. _,...Qd)_;-~.; 7;.. /;.,.·_,,.?./_,,<J.o' r(i(J~A(( C"' , ....

is no doubt t at Holding Tallcs serves as a curious iodex ... -

s u J:~d_. Rot i mi ' s of the prevail~..e~rcumstances which ' ,,,..,.

unexpect~9 departure from his del at Ile--...,Ife to a new "-.._ . .,. '-

s u j our n at (

the .. Univers · of Por'l: arco~~t.··-·The .... __ sh,q._~p _s.b.siA~-e

erc"epi!-i,9n is l.i,k'Ef,..,i~ :~b ~~-lie in outlook .. ~,..· ~~,,,.,,,,..,.,

endurin·g ·"godhead to the ..... ~tream of an unsettling

r'iver ?alancing_the framework -~f _a rickety foostool. ' .l'.r_ ~ ~ • ~ ~<1 1i~, /4:r-~ ~ C<. ~ ~~JL-<., JW~ r 0 If / (19fi ) c'6nfirms the unease that su~ ounds Rotimi's

· J /J I t I t · .' to new;Jter~atn· 1:fie author !has ei ed upp n '··rersona

h I ta7pet _,:'~~_,"."_':'~ , ; \ per·~i-ti ve- E"o certain moral\ cg tradictio~s) in ··our

/ ' / t ~ If ~i clearly expresses the wish for a

new kind of leadership, one with a rugged sense of a_9\d a... c..o~- H->41.e..,..;t- +o

responsibilityA"tearing everything apart and starting

the entire nation-building process all over again, this time

with no tolerance whatsoever for the selfish, nor for the ( MOO J~ _1 -,,'

exped~ent _of do~b~e standards.',.~) The play cap~ur~s , the ~ 1 iP;::~ -=·.'o-f.~ ns-. f-ioc-, , ofi~r -f.,-_o JQ..,..,se t?f Nc1 e.,.ro5

of t)-}-e ""' iien for· -'a:=tlesh atne Ci'reA'JC. ~ Second Republicr:)

~ a l,a9- 15e,i!,T{. br91ig]Tt-1; rtl::o :being ·<>-~Jc&e, I } IQ b; a,?<::__ e.p-Forced t:iands of tli~ military i11 19~-~sm has been

..Po r /0 t ...,_ enthroned with its brutal machinery <;j?f exploit~@~a,u:4 the

It "tHHimiRg 1es-e;uf:scea of Wire masses. lNre chance for change exists

"if the masses will use their votes as tools for their own

freedom~ /ut ~ desired chaAge "Aas to de \o$ith tt=ie way

~e--r.:>C::¥:lO.J.mia-e~M?---r-fl·aafF!nt-Edr.ilH:e!1d~ etnltee~i::-::s~~m'e.- ~o l ldar i Ly u •

.Q_~-¥~~~:>-r--"-1-td-j~E*l-Mlgs.!!-.o,A-the- ~I=\ e !'0 H,s

a-Rew-"90-V.e-rnrrre-rrt-;·~otim:C unfo.lds the e xtent to - ~

~ h he entrenched ~italist system~as

cruelly dehurnanited the ~pressed r'!les ses ~ f1u.lrv:£'Q1,1 cf -t;lw/P:: ,

~!-~16> ~ ~ ~.zi7 ~~ -~ ~ ~ / p.J/,Y:£.~ ~/),,-~ fa-P ~ ~ ~1'hQ~.

Add to entry on OLA ROTIMI :

BCX)KS:

DRAMA CRITICISM:

African Dramatic Literature: To Be or To Become? Inaugural Lecture

Series, No. 11 (Port Harcourt, Nigeria: University of Port Harcourt,

1991 ).

REFERENCES:

Martin Banham, "Ola Rotimi: 'Humanity as My Tribesmen:" Modern Drama, 33

(1990): 67-81;

Brian Crow, "Melodrama and the 'Political Unconscious' in Two African

Plays," Ariel, 14, 3 (1983): 15-31;

Teresa U. Njoku," Influence of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex on Rotimi's The Gods

Are Not to Blame," Nigeria Magazine, 151 (1984): 88-92;

Chinyere G. Okafor, "Ola Rotimi: The Man, the Playwright, and the Producer

on the Nigerian Theater Scene," World Literature Today, 64 (1990):

24-29;

Kalu Okpi, "Ola Rotimi: A Popular Nigerian Dramatist and Man of the

Theatre," The Literary Criterion, 23, 1-2 (1988): 106-117;