Actress Olushola Benjamin Reveals Grandmother’s Roles In Her Acting Career
Abeokuta, Ogun state-born actress, singer, dancer and drummer Olushola Benjamin has revealed that the foundation for her career in acting was laid by her grandmother while she was quite young.
Shola, who began professional acting about 32 years ago soon after finishing her diploma course in theatre Arts at the University of Port Harcourt disclosed that the holidays she spent with her grandmother in Akure, Ondo State helped her choose her career path
” While I was young, I would always spend my holidays with my grandmother, Madam Elebutu. While with her, she would take me along to events and occasions where she chants praises of people and that was how I started learning and practicing whenever I return back to my parents”
Those childhood memories stayed with her and informed her decision to get a diploma in Theatre Arts after secondary school.
“I moved to Lagos after school and joined the Performance Studio Workshop, a training institute with the now Prof Chuck Mike as head in 1990. For about three years, she was drilled in other aspects of the performing arts.
She became adept at playing the Bata and dundun drums and different dances from the major tribes of Nigeria.
“I also trained under Isioma Williams, a great dancer, drummer and chereographer who owned Drumsview and there she learnt to play the Riverine and Sakara drums under six months while also gaining dance and singing abilities which had helped me over the years”
A great lover of live theatre because of the immediate joy and happiness you see on the faces of the audience, Olushola says she has developed her chanting talents over the years through research on the various praises that exist in the Yoruba tribe.
“My art is unique because I can function effectively in all areas of the arts, be it make-up, costuming, choreography, acting, drumming, singing and even chanting. I am a complete theatre artiste and I owe my bosses – Chuck Mike, Ben Tomoloju, Isioma Williams, Amatu Braide (now late), Columbus Ironsanga for helping to hone the seed that my grandmother sowed while I was young. I remain eternally grateful”
