Ọba kò so

Ọba kò so (The King Did Not Hang) is a play by Duro Ladipo depicting the mystical and ambivalent personality known as Shango of Yoruba mythology.

Background

Shango is the protagonist of the play. According to some historians, he reigned as the king of Oyo and was a figure feared by both his subjects and, across the Niger, by the Borgu and Nupe empires. He was known for his warring and tyrannical tendencies during his life, and was later deified in tribal history and worshiped by some. His era was one of turbulence and also of intrigue. Duro Ladipo was influenced by the writings of the Rev. Samuel Johnson, a Yoruba historian who used a lot of old Oyo sources for his book on the Yorubas. Duro's play created the image of Sango as a tragic hero.

Plot

The play tries to revisit history by portraying a stout and commanding Sango at the height of his powers as a king. Ever mindful of the wishes of the people and in his desire to please them, he set two of his most powerful chiefs against each other. The chiefs, Gbonka and Timi, had grown too powerful and were becoming a nuisance to the kingdom. However, the plot ends up dividing his cabinet and many of his advisers, friends and a wife, Princess Oya, leave him.

Shango's friend Mogba, rather than join the traitors, desires to redeem the battered image of the king. Mogba invokes incantations, causing thunder and lightning to damage the homes of Sango's enemies.

gollark: ++exec```pythonprint("no" * 900)```

gollark: ++exec --debug```haskellmain = print [5..]```

gollark: BAD PYTHON. BAD.

gollark: ...?

gollark: ++exec```pythonimport timetime.sleep("tjat")print("hi")```

References

Ogundeji, "Philip Adedotun: The Image of Sango in Duro Ladipo's plays". Research in African Literatures, 1998, pp. 57–75.

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