At a time when home video was alien to Nigeria, these two men blazed the trail, wrote several drama scripts, travelled across different cities and states with their crew for stage productions and when television started getting popular, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Ibadan served as a good platform to widely broadcast their plays.
Duro Ladipo and Oyin Adejobi are two men who blazed the trail in theatre and made several actors who are now Nollywood veterans. The duo had several things in common, from starting their career as choir leaders in the Anglican Church, to founding their theatre groups in Osogbo, Osun State, marrying three to five wives to support their theatre productions, here is the story of two doyens of Nigeria’s theatre.
Duro Ladipo:
Duro Ladipo was one of the pioneers of theatre in Nigeria, long before Nollywood. Born December 18, 1931, in Osogbo, Osun State, his father was a reverend in the Anglican Church and he grew up in the church environment.
In a documentary titled, “The Creative Person” by the American National Educational Television (NET), Duro Ladipo revealed why he was named Duro which means ‘Stay’
“My parents had a lot of troubles having children, 13 children were born dead before me, that is why I was named Duro which means stay don’t go again
“Since I was born, I heard it that none of my brothers and sisters ever died again, we are all living now, about seven of us. My father has just one wife, that’s my mother.”
Growing up in the church environment and his grandfather’s background as a renowned traditionalist would later influence Duro’s work as a dramatist, playwright and musicologist.
He revolutionized church music with the introduction of native drums and he explained the motive behind his action.
He said: “I was very interested in music since I was seven years old because I was one of the boys directing the choir for my father in the churches, I was allowed to use my own sense in bringing the choir up. Then I felt changing from the monotonous tune of the piano that was just sounding the same every time we gather to worship.
“I introduced native drums to church music abruptly one Sunday and everybody was shocked.”
Against the will of his father who was never in support of traditionalists, Duro would sneak out of the vicarage to watch masquerades and traditional festivals in town.
He left Osogbo for Ibadan where he worked as a teacher and later got the partnership that gave his passion a huge fillip. While in Ibadan, in 1960 he met Prof Ulli Beier, a German writer, scholar and a lecturer at the University of Ibadan who arrived Nigeria in 1950 with his estranged wife Susanne Wenger. Beier developed interest in traditional Yoruba culture and arts which led him to support Duro in full-time play writing and stage production.
In 1962, Duro Ladipo and Beier co-founded the ‘Mbari Mbayo’ group in Osogbo, converting his father’s house into an art gallery and a theatre, where he produced his plays.
His theatre group was renowned for promoting and reevaluating the significance of the Yoruba tradition and culture. His major works include Oba Moro, Oba Koso, Ajagun Nla and Eda which starred veteran Nollywood actor Lere Paimo and earned him the Eda Onileola sobriquet.
Duro Ladipo and his theatre group travelled across cities in Southwest Nigeria for stage plays, theatre drama and also went international with their art showcasing their works in Europe and America and he revealed that his crew members were not just doing what they love without reward.
“I started my theatre on a salary basis, I was one of those who started this in Nigeria because I felt people should be tied to a particular profession. We do everything together, I feed them and at the end of the month, we shared profit,”
Duro Ladipo said.
His second wife, Chief (Mrs.) Abiodun Duro Ladipo, alias ‘Moremi’, also played significant roles in his plays. In Oba Koso, regarded as one of his most prolific performances, he played the lead role as Sango, the god of thunder. He was so close to reality in his delivery of the role that he was assumed to be a second Sango. Events on the the day of his death, March 11, 1978, – unusual heavy rain with heavy thunderstorms gave this believe some level of credence among his fans
Duro wrote and produced 36 plays, published 10 plays, produced 9 gramophone records and acted in four films. He was conferred with two national and three international awards, which included the first prize at the Berlin Arts Festival in Germany in 1964 and at the first-ever Commonwealth Arts Festival in London, UK, the following year, with his epic play, “Oba Koso” (the king did not hang).
He had three wives – Mabel, Abiodun and Bisi and he explained in the documentary that Mabel who was the first wife took care of the children at home, while the other two go along with him on tour. Abiodun played lead roles in his plays.
“My second wife who is the greatest star I have is Abiodun, she plays the lead role every time because she has wonderful voice, she is just talented with voice, she sings wonderfully and she is a very serious actress. The third is Bisi Idowu, very talented and one of the best dancers I have,”
he said.
On Wednesday, 11th March, this year, it will be exactly 42 years the iconic actor died.
Veteran Nollywood actors like Lere Paimo aka Eda Onile Ola, Kareem Adepoju (Baba Wande) are some of the prominent actors who passed through the Duro Ladipo Theatre Group.
His second wife and children Wole Duro-Ladipo and Solabomi Duro-Ladipo Akinsola, have been carrying on with his legacy.
Oyin Adejobi:
Born 1926, Oyinade Adejobi is another legendary dramatist and actor who was instrumental in the training of several veteran actors.
Like Duro Ladipo, Adejobi also started his career in the choir of a local Anglican Church parish in Osogbo, Osun State. That was where he met the woman who eventually became his first wife and veteran Nollywood actress, Grace Oyin-Adejobi popularly known as Iya Osogbo. He later married four more wives who all participated in the productions and travelling across different cities.
“He really was not someone who liked polygamy. But his work made him marry about four more wives,” Grace said in an interview with The Punch. That line sounds familiar, it was the same justification Duro Ladipo gave while explaining why he married three wives.
Oyin Adejobi started developing interest in theatre when he travelled to Lagos with his brother who was a primate. “It was during his stay in Lagos that he learnt many things about theatre,” his wife Grace said.
He founded the Oyin Adejobi theatre group in Osogbo, Osun State in the late 1940s and the group was one of the popular Yoruba travelling theatre groups at the time up till the 1980s.
Oyinade Adejobi wrote and performed several Yoruba drama productions on stage, television and movies. Some of his plays included – Paradise Lost, Kuye, Orogun Adedigba among others. He also had a weekly television show, Kootu Asipa ‘Ashipa’s Court’ on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Ibadan. He was well known for his autobiographical movie ‘Orogun Adedigba’ which chronicled how he started using crutches from the age of seven.
He died at the age of 74, at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State in the year 2000.
Aside his first wife Iya Osogbo, other veteran Nollywood actors whose acting skills were sharpened under Oyin Adejobi included Kareem Adepoju who was a former member of Duro Ladipo group, Lere Paimo who started with Oyin Adejobi before joining Duro Ladipo, Kola Oyewo, now a professor of Theatre Arts at the Ekiti State University, among others.
One of his children Bola Oyin-Adejobi, a singer has continued to carry on with the legacy of the late dramatist. He, however, said he is involved in stage productions than movies.