Ebun Clark ( Odutola) is an academic and the first Nigerian professor in the field of theatre arts.

Biography

Clark was born into the Odutola family of Ijebuland. Her father was Jimoh Odutola, a businessman and Adeola Odutola's younger brother. She studied speech and voice at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, Sidcup, London. She was one of the pioneering lecturers of the school of drama at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

in 1963. In 1965, she moved to the department of English at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

and was appointed the director of the centre for cultural studies in 1983. She retired from the university in 1991. She met John Pepper Clark, a Nigerian poet who was then a research fellow at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ibadan while she was lecturing at the School of Drama. They married on 4 April 1964 in a low key ceremony in Cotonu,

Benin Republic Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

. Her family stood against her marriage to JP Clark because of ethnic differences as she was Ijebu from southwestern Nigeria while he was

Ijaw Ijaw may refer to: *Ijaw people The Izon people or Izon Otu, otherwise known as the Ijaw people due to the historic mispronunciation of the name ''Izon'', are an ethnic group majorly found in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, with significant populatio ...

from the

Niger-Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical ...

. On account of this, they

eloped Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

in Cotonu. Her research around

Hubert Ogunde Chief Hubert Adedeji Ogunde, D.Lit. (10 July 1916 – 4 April 1990) was a Nigerian actor, playwright, theatre manager, and musician who founded the first contemporary professional theatrical company in Nigeria, the African Music Research Part ...

and his work was sponsored by the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. She cofounded PEC Reparatory Theatre in 1982 in Lagos with JP Clark.

Bibliography

* ''Hubert Ogunde: The Making of the Nigerian Theatre'' (1979)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Ebun Academic staff of the University of Lagos Living people Academic staff of the University of Ibadan Year of birth missing (living people)