Happy birthday to “the father of Nollywood” and one of Nigeria’s foremost dramatists, Ola Rotimi.

Emmanuel Gladstone Olawale Rotimi, otherwise called Ola Rotimi, was in the spotlight for additional reasons than one.

The present Doodle celebrates the famous Nigerian dramatist, chief, entertainer, choreographer and designer, who utilized his art to think about Nigeria’s rich culture, diversity, and local traditions.

Ola Rotimi was born in 1938 and experienced childhood in a family of artists: His mom managed a traditional dance group and his dad coordinated a community theater.

His dad additionally directed and produced a play where Rotimi would appear in front of an audience interestingly at just four-years of age.

His family’s passion for the arts, as well as his mixed parentage-an Ijaw mother and Yoruba father-significantly impacted his future work. He would later go to Boston University to concentrate on theater and earned a M.F.A. degree at Yale University in play-writing and dramatic literature.

All through Rotimi’s profession, he composed and directed many plays and short stories that poignantly examined Nigeria’s ethnic traditions and history.

He was known to have an awesome vision and embraced dance, music, and even mime inside his creations. Rotimi’s plays pulled back the curtain to unveil traditional Nigerian rituals, tunes, and dances to audiences all over the world.

A portion of his most celebrated and award-winning works incorporate The Gods Are Not to Blame, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, and Kurunmi.