Duro Ladipo

Durodola Durosomo Duroorike Timothy Adisa Ladipo (18 December 1926 – 11 March 1978), more commonly known as Duro Ladipo, was one of the best known and critically acclaimed Yoruba dramatists who emerged from postcolonial Africa. Writing solely in the Yoruba language, he captivated the symbolic spirit of Yoruba mythologies in his plays, which were later adapted to other media such as photography, television and cinema. His most famous play, Ọba kò so (The King did not Hang), a dramatization of the traditional Yoruba story of how Ṣango became the Orisha of Thunder, received international acclaim at the first Commonwealth Arts Festival in 1965 and on a Europe an tour, where a Berlin critic, Ulli Beier, compared Ladipọ to Karajan. Ladipo usually acted in his own plays.

Early life Durodola Durosomo (or Durosinmi) Duroorike Timothy Adisa Ladipo was born on 18 December 1926 to Joseph Oni Ladipo and Dorcas Towobola Ajike Ladipo. Many sources claim he was born in 1931, but this was most likely erroneously stated. Because Ladipo was born after nine of his parents' children died before the age of one, Ladipo was believed to be an abiku.

Career

Ladipọ tried hard and succeeded in exposing himself to traditional and Yoruba cultural elements, especially when living under the veil of a Christian home. At a young age, he would sneak out of the vicarage to watch Yoruba festivals. This fascination with his culture goaded him into researching and experimenting with theatrical drama and writing. After leaving Oṣogbo, he went to Ibadan, where he became a teacher. While in Ibadan, he became one of the founding members of an artist club called Mbari Mbayo and became influenced by a German scholar named Ulli Beier. Ladipọ later replicated the club in Oṣogbo, and it became the premier group for promoting budding artists and dramatists in Oṣogbo. Throughout his career, Ladipọ wrote 10 Yoruba folk operas combining dance, music, mime, proverbs, drumming and praise songs.

Ladipo started his personal theatre group in 1961, but he became fully established with the founding of the Mbari Mbayo Club in Oṣogbo. His popularity as the leader of a folk opera group rests on his three plays: Ọbamoro in 1962, Ọba ko so and Ọba Waja in 1964. Ọba Waja – "The King is Dead" – is based on the same historical event that inspired fellow Nigerian playwright Wọle Ṣoyinka's Death and the King's Horseman.) He also promoted Mọremi, a play about the Yoruba ancestress of the same name. He later transformed Mbari Mbayo into a cultural center, an arts gallery and a meeting point for young artists seeking to develop their talents.Ladipọ wrote quite a number of plays, including Suru Baba Iwa and Tanimowo Iku. Some of his plays were also produced for television. In fact, he created Bode Wasinimi for the Nigerian Television Authority, Ibadan. In 1964, he married Abiodun Duro-Ladipo as the second wife, and married Bisi as his third wife, and she became a permanent member of the troupe. She gained fame as an actress, taking main roles in all the plays performed by the company. Ladipo died on 11 March 1978, at the age of 51, after a short illness. It is said that when he died the heavens opened, and there was sudden rain with lightning and thunder. This was interpreted as a sign that Shango, the god of thunder and the main character of his most famous work, welcomed him into the heavens. He had many children, among whom was Ladepo Richard Duro-Ladipo, who took after him as a theatre practitioner of note.