User:Toys Bet On Tea/sandbox

Testing Sandbox

=Act 2=

The village elders gather round to discuss the allegations that have been made against Odewale. A blind soothsayer, Baba Fakunle, is brought in to share with Odewale the murderer of the old king. Odewale begins to make accusations of a plot being made against him, spearheaded by Aderepo, to one of the village chiefs in response to Baba Fakunle’s silence. Aderepo arrives and is immediately confronted by Odewale about his suspicions. Aderepo denies the allegations, and Odewale calls forth the Priest of Ogun. Odewale banishes Aderepo from the kingdom. Toys Bet On Tea (talk) 16:21, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Productions
It was in its 2005 performance at the Arcola Theater in London, however, that brought with it renewed discussion. Toys Bet On Tea (talk) 16:18, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Yoruban Culture and Influences
The Gods Are Not to Blame draws heavy influence from Yoruba and Yoruban culture. Ola Rotimi had an immense knowledge and interest in African cultures, as indicated in his ability to speak several ethnic languages, such as Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa, and pidgin. In his work, Rotimi took traditional Yoruban myths, songs, and other traditional African elements, and applied it to the Greek tragedy structure.

The comical character Alaka, for example, represents Odewale’s childhood growing up in the village of Ishokun. Ishokun, in the play, is a small farming village, wherein Odewale learned to harvest yams. By juxtaposing Alaka in Odewale’s new environment, Kutuje, Rotimi illustrates the cultural differences between traditional Yoruban life, with that of the industrialized west. Rotimi, in response to the Nigerian Civil War, says that the root cause of the strife amongst Nigerians, of the bloodshed, was in their lingering mutual ethnic distrust which culminate in open hostility. He says that in post-colonial Africa, much of the blame over the suffering incurred by native Africans was the result of the colonial powers. To this Rotimi argues that while some of the suffering may have been the result of attempted colonial conquests, the lingering animosity that is felt and dispersed among fellow Nigerians, by fellow Nigerians, cannot be blamed solely on an outside party. He felt that the future of Nigerian culture cannot continue to be blamed forces from the past, much like Odewale would blame the suffering of his people, in his kingdom, on the sins of the old king, Adetusa.

Characters
 Odewale:  The current king of Kutuje, who had risen to power by unknowingly murdering the old king, King Adetusa, whom, also not to his knowledge, was also his father. The manner in which he kills his father is revealed in a flashback when his childhood friend, Alaka, comes to Kutuje to ask him why he was not in the village of Ede as he said he would be when he departed at age thirteen. Similar in nature to the Greek play, Oedipus Tyrannus his royal parents receive a prophecy from Baba Fakunle that Odewale would grow up to them both. To prevent this from occurring, King Adetusa orders for Odewale to be killed. Instead, he is wrapped in a white cloth (symbolizing death) and left in a bush far from Kutuje. He is found and picked up by a farmer, and raised by him along with his wife. Odewale is confronted by Gbonka, a messenger, who tells of the event that lead to King Adetusa's end. Along with the Ogun Priest, it is revealed to him that the old king was his father, and that Ojuola was his mother.

 Ojuola:  Wife of the late King Adetusa. Current wife of King Odewale. She is the mother of six children: two under King Adetusa (Odewale and Aderepo), and four under King Odewale (Adewale, Adebisi, Oyeyemi, Adeyinka). She was given a prophecy, along with King Adetusa, that their child, Odewale, would one day grow up to usurp the thrown, killing them both. As the queen of the kingdom of Kutuje, she finds herself serving as Odewale's conscience, calming him when he begins to act irrationally. When it is revealed by the Ogun Priest that Ojuola is, in fact, Odewale's mother, she goes to her bedroom and kills herself.  Aderepo:  Brother of Odewale, and son of King Adetusa and Ojuola. He is consistently accused by Odewale of having ulterior motives to take the throne from him, going as far as to say that Aderepo had bribed the soothsayer, Baba Fakunle, of giving a false account of what is to come. Aderepo is also accused of spreading the rumor that Odewale was the one who murdered the old king, Adetusa.  King Adetusa:  Former king of Kutuje. Despite his best efforts to curb the prophecy that his child, Odewale, would grow up to take the throne by murdering him, he is inevitably slain when he encounters his son, now fully grown, in the village of Ede.  Baba Fakunle: A blind, old man, Baba Fakunle serves as a soothsayer to those who seek him. He is summoned by Odewale to ask of a way to rid the suffering of his kingdom. Baba Fakunle tells him that the source of the kingdom's ails lay with him. After a dispute, Baba Fakunle calls Odewale a "murderer," alluding to the assault that occurred on the yam patch in Ede, in which Odewale kills King Adetusa, unknowingly his father.  Alaka:  Odewale's childhood friend. Alaka hails from the village of Ishokun. He comes to Kutuje to tell Odewale that the man he called father had passed two years prior and that his mother, though old, was still in good health. It is during the course of the play that Odewale reveals to Alaka why it was that he left the village of Ede, where Odewale said he would live after leaving Ishokun when he was thirteen. Gboko: The former messenger of the late King Adetusa. Gboko was present when King Adetusa was slain at the hands of Odewale. Near the play's end, Gboko recants this event to Odewale, which leads to the discovery that Odewale was in fact the son of the former king, and the son of the current queen, and his birth mother, Ojuola. Toys Bet On Tea (talk) 13:12, 17 November 2014 (UTC)