In 1967, An American Television Crew Travelled to Nigeria to Document Duro Ladipo (Video)

In 1967, an American television crew travelled to Nigeria to document Duro Ladipo, the legendary pioneer of Yoruba travelling theatre, popularly remembered as the “Thunder King of Theatre.”
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Produced for National Educational Television (NET), The Creative Person: Duro Ladipo followed Ladipo and his Travelling Theatre Company on the road through Yoruba communities, where they performed at night before local audiences. The documentary, broadcast in the United States on June 25, 1967, also captured a command performance before the Alaafin of Oyo. The programme is preserved in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, a collaboration between GBH and the Library of Congress.
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Born in Osogbo in 1931, Ladipo’s journey into theatre grew from his early involvement in drama and music. He later became known for bringing Yoruba history, mythology, music, dance and oral traditions together on stage.
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In 1962, he founded the Duro Ladipo Travelling Theatre Company. A year later, Ọba Kò So, based on the story of Ṣàngó, received the Nigerian Federal Cultural Achievement Award and became the work most closely associated with his name.
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His theatre soon moved beyond Nigeria. The company performed at the International Arts Festival in Berlin in 1964, followed by a tour of Britain and continental Europe in 1965.
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By the time this documentary was filmed in 1967, Duro Ladipo had spent years building a theatre rooted in Yoruba history and tradition, while taking his productions beyond Nigeria. He continued writing and performing until his d£-@th at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, on March 11, 1978.
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Nearly six decades later, this remarkable footage gives us a chance to see Duro Ladipo and his travelling theatre at work, at a time when that history was still being written.