Tayo Aluko is a playwright and actor based in Liverpool, UK. He has written and performed a number of plays including Call Mr Robeson and Just An Ordinary Lawyer. OPTG caught up with him to learn about how he is walking his path to greatness and he did not hold back from sharing.
Enjoy the interview below.
OPTG: If you were to describe yourself to someone meeting you for the first time, who would you say Tayo Aluko is?
Tayo: Nigerian. A former architect, now a professional playwright, actor and singer, specialising in positive work on the Black experience.
OPTG: How did you get started as an artist?
Tayo: I was instructed by my mother (no debate) to join the school choir in my primary school – Unilag Staff School – when I was about six or seven. I never stopped singing, even when my voice was breaking while I was at King’s College. I also acted in stage plays and musicals, and was sure that I would never do it professionally, as I enjoyed it so much and didn’t want to spoil the fun. Paul Robeson came into my life and changed that
OPTG: You draw so much influence from Paul Robeson. What will you say is the primary thing that inspires you about him?
Tayo: The fact this one man’s life encompasses practically all of the modern Black experience. His life story taught me pride in African history, an understanding of transatlantic slavery, but more importantly resistance and activism, notwithstanding what financial rewards he gained as an artist, and ultimately what he lost in standing up for his belief in justice, equality and human rights.
OPTG: Another thing you share with Paul Robeson is leaving your core profession for the arts, why the decision?
Tayo: I worked as an architect for about twelve years, and wanting to be in more control of the kinds of buildings I designed, decided to become a developer, intending to specialise in green buildings for social good. It turned out that my adoptive home city of Liverpool wasn’t ready for me to do that, and I ended up badly bruised, frustrated and hugely in debt. I then decided to get out of the murky waters of property, and finally do what I really loved. I have had no regrets.
OPTG: Aside from Paul Robeson, which other artists inspire you?
Tayo: Langston Hughes. Nina Simone, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Lorraine Hansberry, Chinua Achebe and David Diop.
OPTG: What do you hope to achieve from your artistic expressions or what do you hope anyone who engages with any of your art forms leave with? Writings, plays, music?
Tayo: Helping people of all backgrounds to learn more of the truth of Black and African mental, physical and economic oppression, but more importantly, resilience, resistance and beauty. I hope that by reducing ignorance, I will help to reduce racism and inequality, and improve our self-image.
OPTG: Do you see yourself collaborating with Nigerian artists back home or do you have ongoing collaborations with them?
Tayo: I would love to. There are one or two people there with whom I have agreed to do some exciting and interesting things as soon as the opportunities arise, and the circumstances are favourable.
OPTG: Your poem, “It’s beginning to look like Lagos” draws a parallel between London and Lagos. What, if any, do you miss about Lagos/Nigeria?
Tayo: I miss the constant warmth, the closeness of family and friends, hearing the languages, and eating the food.
OPTG: What influence has your father and his legacy had on you and your career?
Tayo: I guess knowing that he was a success as a writer (even as a sideline) gave me the confidence that I could do it myself. I was particularly proud to meet some African-American academics in 2000 who told me that he was one of the African writers that inspired them during the civil rights movement. How many people could that be said of? I therefore feel I owe it to him to carry on inspiring.
I would also like to pay tribute to my mother. To this day, I meet people who remember her fondly as a French teacher. I would like to think that my work also teaches people in a way that they will be inspired by, and they will remember in years to come.
OPTG: Even though your father was a writer, he did not fully embrace your decision to be an artist at first. Why was that?
Tayo: Oh, you know- the typical African parent thing. He was worried that I wouldn’t make a good living. He was right, of course, but he finally saw me perform Robeson in Lagos, recognised that I was good at what I did, and was happy doing it, regardless of the absence of certainty of huge financial reward.
OPTG: What have been the most challenging aspects of what you do?
Tayo: Pre-Covid, it was constantly pushing to get enough bookings to keep the shows on the road, and maintain financial viability. Covid has been surprisingly beneficial because it has opened doors to TV work (which pays a lot better) and has allowed me to do some more writing.
OPTG: What do you do for fun?
Tayo: I mainly go to the theatre and concerts when I can, and occasionally movies.
OPTG: What does your ideal Nigeria/Africa look like?
Tayo: A place where cities, towns and villages alike have functioning basic infrastructure, and where art thrives and is enjoyed and practiced by everybody, regardless of means. Where our good traditions are valued and celebrated.
OPTG: Have you ever considered relocating back home?
Tayo: I think about it all the time. It is a dream that I hope will one day come true, but I also try to be realistic.
OPTG: What have you learnt along the way?
Tayo: An African-American proverb comes to mind, retold by a musician-pastor, told him by his grandmother: “Honey, if the mountain’s smooth, you can’t climb it.”
OPTG: What advice will you give people who look to you as a role model?
Tayo: If you can make your work meaningful, helpful and beneficial to others while providing for yourself, you don’t need much else.
OPTG: Final words?
Tayo: Our National Anthem has some great words: The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain. It will only be in vain if we give up trying to rebuild on their work, regardless of the damage done by others, for where there is life, there is hope.
OPTG: How can people contact you? Email, social media?
Tayo: Website: www.tayoalukoandfriends.com; Email: tayo@tayoalukoandfriends.com;
Twitter: @MrTayoAluko; Instagram: @tayoalukoinliverpool; Facebook: Tayo Aluko & Friends; Linkedin: Tayo Aluko.
** Tayo’s father referred to in the interview is T.M Aluko, author of One Man, One Machete, One Man One Wife and other books.
OPTG Interview Contributor – Oriyomi Adebare–Anthony
Oriyomi Adebare-Anthony is a content writer and editor at Witty Inventions Consult. She volunteers with OPTG Africa.