By Leke Giwa
The Nigerian writer, Ola
Rotimi achieved global renown thanks to his major contributions to the world of
theatre over the years.
Rotimi wrote, produced and
even starred in many fine dramas during his lifetime. His acclaimed plays
included The gods are not to blame, Our husband
has gone mad again, and Kurunmi.
From the very beginning it was clear that
Rotimi was a formidable talent, despite
some early criticism from Dapo Adelugba who referred to the "chafing at
the heels of Yoruba grand saws and expressions" by Rotimi; and
"uneasy oscillations in his language and style" generally. Adelugba
at this stage dubbed Rotimi's work as "interesting apprentice".
Kurunmi the play by Rotimi
was appreciated by a great deal of readers and critics though, and had several
productions around the world. I remember it was filmed for Nigerian television
with Rotimi himself starring as Ogunmola the warrior:
"That's your own headache!".
The play, Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, also by Rotimi is a very powerful work with many
praising the dignity of the king: "Let the land know this: Ovonramwen
Nogbaisi is henceforth set to rule as king after the manner of his fathers
before him...no matter how stout and long the human neck, on top of it must sit
a head. Henceforth a full moon's my glow - dominant and un-open to rivalry
throughout the empire".
On my own part, over the
years - perhaps in my naivety - somehow I always juxtaposed Rotimi's Our husband has gone mad again, with Ama
Ata Aidoo's The dilemma of a ghost - with the theme of wives "from
outside" finding it difficult to fit in. The theatrical effects in both
plays remain impressionable.
Rotimi had to go through the
whole drama himself of being a Nigerian with its absurdities - eg when in real
life he was brutally flogged by security officials as documented by Wole
Soyinka... Rotimi recorded many of the absurdities and outrageousness of
society in his plays.
On the whole, Ola Rotimi's
life and work in the theatre shows that he belongs to the pantheon of the all-time
great African playwrights - like Athol Fugard, Wole Soyinka, Efua T Sutherland,
J.P Clark, and Zulu Sofola.
* This essay is published in the book, Glimpses into African Literature