“In 1997 when I had my first short on stage as an actor, stage theatre was the rave of the moment at the time as the likes of Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo, Ojo Ladipo, Akin Ogungbe, Oyin Adejobi, The Jesters, Ishola Ogunsola, Moses Adejumo(Baba Sala) and a host of others dominated the theatre world. Stage, and not television drama was the order of the day at the time as the existing drama groups took stage to another. The aesthetics, flavour and class that went with the stage drama then made it more appealing to people than television productions.
“Now 40 years down the lane, the same cannot be said of travelling theatre as it was in the 70s and 80s. Satellite television, home videos and online television have taken over the minds of our viewers. The practitioners do not even have the time and will not risk any resource to go into the stage dramas again. And since the people are not encouraged, they are contempt with watching home videos from the comfort of their homes and when they choose to go out to relax, they go to the cinemas to watch more motion picture stuffs.
“Back then in the 70s, only three stage dramas by three prominent theatre legends stood out. The three dramas are: Kola Ogunmola’s ‘Lanke Omu’, Duro Ladipo’s ‘Oba Koso’ and Hubert Ogunde’s Dance Company. Not that other artistes did not do well with their own productions, but the point here is that those three aforementioned drama legends went extra miles in making the best out of their stage productions; they engaged the services of people from the academia who are trained for stage. This single venture gave their productions unprecedented prominence and popularity as they took their productions outside Nigeria for live performances.
“It is on this premise that my own 40th anniversary as a practitioner is designed to showcase this stage drama called “Ojulelekun”. I have deviated from the normal jamboree and opted out for a kind of celebration that will impact positively on the life of the youth and bring about the sustainability of the legacy of our theatre forebears which hitherto had looked like gone with them. For about four weeks, I assembled a team of over 100 professionals from both the academia and Yoruba theatre industry. We camped in Ado-Ekiti for the rehearsals of “Ojukelekun”. The highpoint of this venture was the engagement of Professor Bakare Ojo Rasaki, a foremost theatre practitioner and first professor of choreography in Nigeria to direct the play. The experiences, lesson and knowledge acquired in the last four weeks of our camping exercise will last long in the memory of every individual involved in this project. I can emphatically say that the purpose of embarking on this rare venture has been achieved. About 100 artistes have been engaged, trained and have been given the opportunity and the platform to go back and revive the Yoruba travelling theatre movement.
“I have also used this project to engage some of our elders in the industry who hitherto might have been forgotten by many of the film producers, although some of them are still very active in theatre practice. The likes of Ayo Olowojolu are some of our elders in the industry who are not usually engaged. This is an ample opportunity for them to get themselves engaged and refresh their memory in the trade they practised even when many of the participants of this project were yet unborn.
“On a last note, I want to appreciate all those who have shared in my vision and ideology to make this dream realistic. I want to particularly thank Prof. Ayo Ojo Rasaki and his team from the academia for giving his time course. These two scholars have given this production a boost with their no-hold back contributions during the four-week rehearsals in Ado Ekiti. This, I see as the greatest achievement of this project because it is not a child’s play to have two foremost professors sharing in your dream. I am equally grateful to my allies and colleagues for standing with me and making themselves part of history. You all sacrificed your time and energy to make this dream come true, and I appreciate you all for this. Together, we have made this happened and it is my candid belief and prayer that this project will be the beginning of revival of travelling theatre in Nigeria”, Dele Odule said.
