"Eda" Starring Lere Paimo and Abiodun Moremi Ladipo

Lere Paimo and Abiodun Moremi Ladipo (Wife of Duro Ladipo) on the cover of "Eda" where he played the eponymous character.

The script was originally written in English and titled "Everyman", it was translated to Yorùbá as "Eda" when the duo of Ulli Beier and Suzanne Wenger Àdùnní Olorisha brought it to Duro Ladipo’s theatre in the mid-1960s.

The origin of the script is not clear but it was an adaptation of Germany's Hofmannsthal play titled " Jedermann" in 1911. The version that was brought to Duro Ladipo was reportedly written under the psuedonym Obotunde Ijimere, it is most likely that Ulli Beier himself composed it.

The play was entirely written in a Yorùbá setting with highlife band, singing and dancing. It was the story of a rich, wealthy and hardworking man (Ẹdá) who refuses to give charity to his poor neighbour on the grounds of "a rich man's necessary expenses" like:

"His lorries break down

And need to be mended

His children go to school... they study abroad

His mistress too has to be lavished with gifts"

Unlike in Hofmannsthal's play where Everyman(Eda) repented and goes off into eternity. In Duro Ladipo's adaptation, Eda was taken by Ikú but he returned through his daughter who gave birth to a new-born baby (Babatunde). She held the baby in her arms singing and rejoicing. Indeed Babatunde (father has come again) the grandfather reborn in the grandson. The play ends in rejoicing and celebration.