The Gods Are Not To Blame

The Gods Are Not To Blame is the title of both a 1968 play and of a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi (1938-2000)[1].

The original text

Originally written as a play as part of the African Arts (Arts d'Afrique) playwriting contest in 1969. Set in an uncertain period of a Yoruba kingdom, it is a reworking of Oedipus Rex, telling the story of Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events by the gods of the land.

The play text first published by the UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center in African Arts (Vol. 3, No. 2 - Winter, 1970)[2]. Published by Three Crowns Books in 1974.

Translations and adaptations

Adapted as a novel by the author and published by Oxford University Press in 1971.

Performance history in South Africa

The Market Theatre hosted The Gods Are Not To Blame at various times, and among those who have directed it have been Arthur Molepo

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ola_Rotimi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_Are_Not_to_Blame#:~:text=The%20Gods%20Are%20Not%20To%20Blame%20is%20a%201968%20play,the%20gods%20of%20the%20land.

https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA03031896_802

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3334550

A copy of the published text found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department's theatre archives and now held in the ESAT repository at the Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, with offices at Pieter Okkers House, 7 Joubert Street, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Go to ESAT Bibliography