Google is celebrating Olawrale Rotimi, Nigerian renowned playwright, actor, director, choreographer and Designer with a doodle on its page as he would have clock 84 today.
The versatile artist, popularly known as Ola Rotimi was born on 13, April, 1938 and grew up in a family of artists, where his mother managed a traditional dance group and his father well known for organising a community theatre.
At the age of four, Rotimi was featured on stage for the first time at a play produced and directed by his father.
However, the mixed parentage of Ola Rotimi and their passion for the arts triggered his desire for the career, having a Yoruba Father and Ijaw mother in the same line of art.
He later proceeded to Boston University where he studied theatre art and earned an M.F.A degree in Playwriting and dramatic literature at Yale University.
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Throughout Rotimi’s career, he wrote and directed many plays and short stories that emotionally examined Nigeria’s ethnic traditions and history and also was known to have an impressive vision and embraced dance, music, and even mime within his productions.
Meanwhile, his plays pulled back the curtain to unveil traditional Nigerian rituals, songs, and dances to audiences all over the world. Some of his most celebrated and award-winning works include The Gods Are Not to Blame, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, and Kurunmi which drew the attention of many.
Google extended their wishes to the prolific writer and said “Happy birthday to “the father of Nollywood” and one of Nigeria’s foremost dramatists, Ola Rotimi”.
a Rotimi died on August 18, 2000 at the age of 62
Meanwhile, his children while sharing their thoughts on their father’s legacy disclosed that Rotimi channeled his resources to the society to encourage societal growth and did not believe in material possessions.
They also noted that he gave everything he had to his children, Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
