Veteran actress Joke Silva has penned down an emotional tribute to late theatre director Bayo Oduneye who died on November 8, 2021.
The actress in an Instagram post on Thursday described the deceased as a ‘man of style’ who always kept in touch with his friends and colleagues.
“My darling UNCLE B….the actors director….man of Style. You were always so good with keeping in touch. Thank you for everything…which was plenty.👌🏾. Indeed to live in the hearts of those you love is to Never die. R.I. P. UNCLE BAYO ODUNEYE,” she wrote.
Described as ‘an actor’s director’ and fondly called Uncle B by his friends and colleagues, Mr Oduneye gained experience as a technical and stage manager before becoming a director. Apart from his competence, his success as a stage director was also a result of the passion he brought to his work.
He taught directing and stage management at the University of Ibadan for nearly five decades and later worked at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ogun State.
He was regarded as an expert on total theatre, and directed more than 100 plays, locally and internationally, including some well-known works. He directed J.P. Clark’s Song of a Goat at Carnegie Mellon University (USA) in 1971, Wale Ogunyemi’s Langbodo and Ijaiye War (1974) ), Wole Soyinka’s Childe Internationale and The Trials of Brother Jero (1973), and Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (1980/81).
He also directed Foursome by Eugene Ionesco (1970/73), Orison by Fernando Arrabal (1974), Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka (1987), Antigone by Jean Anouilh (1988), and The Trials of Oba Ovonramwen by Ahmed Yerima (1997).
Uncle B died four days before his 88th birthday.
