Gods Are Not To Blame, The
By Ola Rotimi
Year staged: 1989
Opening night: 01/11/1989
Theatre Company: Talawa Theatre Company; 1986
Staged in: Riverside Studios
Cast Size: 12
Synopsis
Inspired by Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, The Gods Are Not To Blame follows King Odewale on a rousing journey to discover what is bringing such bad luck to the people of his kingdom, only to find that the answer lies close to home… Considered an allegory of colonialism and a response to the Nigerian Civil War, Ola Rotimi’s play considers the roles of fate, ethnic distrust and hostility, and the legacy of colonial conquest in the fall of a flawed hero.
Find the script
Gods Are Not To Blame, The
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year published: 1971
Original Cast
Kwame Kwei-Armah
Chief Balogun
Sandra Yaw
Iya Aburo / Abero
Delmonzene Morris
Chief Otun
Faith Edwards
Boy / Oyeyemi
Taiwo Payne
Gbonka / Agidi
Jeffrey Kissoon
King Odewale
Mo Sesay
Labata
Susan Aderin
Narrator
Charlton Chance
Ogun Priest
Leonie Forbes
Queen Ojuola
Tyrone Huggins
Adetusa / Aderopo
Jason Rose
Baba Fakunle / Alaka
Production Team
Larry Coke
Lighting
Ellen Cairns
Designer
Yvonne Brewster
Director
Topher Campbell
Associate Director
Additional Materials
Production Accounts
Ref: TTC/2/2/5
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Production Management Correspondence
Ref: TTC/4/1/5
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Marketing Correspondence
Ref: TTC/8/1/5
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Programme
Ref: TTC/8/3/3/6
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Press Cuttings
Ref: TTC/8/4/5
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Audience Research Data
Ref: TTC/8/5/1
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Production Materials
Ref: THM/516/1/5
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Production Records
Ref: GOG/3/16
University of Bristol Theatre Collection
Production and Promotion Files
Ref: TFP074
Future Histories - Black Performance and Carnival Archive