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For over 30 years, Miss Olushola Kunmi Benjamin has been a theatre artiste of many facets. She was intentional when she gained admission into the University of Port Harcourt, River State, Nigeria where she studied and got a Diploma in Theatre Arts between 1987 and 1989.
Later on she became a foundation member of the Performance Studio Workshop (PSW) in Lagos, Nigeria from 1990 to 1993. Meanwhile, the PSW was a training, performance laboratory and institute where she developed more skills.
Miss Benjamin rose through the ranks from an Artiste in Training to Intern and ultimately Artiste in Residence, performing in many of the original plays produced during that period. Apart from her seminal role as an actress, she learned and participated in several aspects of the performing arts.
She was adept at Improvisation, Singing, Music, Drumming, and Dance, the latter of which she ultimately helped to research and choreograph for short and full-length plays.
Her knowledge of music and dance across Nigeria and West Africa such as Gelede, Bolojo (Yoruba) Ohogoho (Benin), Owigiri (Ijaw), Ugho (Edo) is very commendable. Her versatility is not limited to traditional dance only but cuts across playing and teaching traditional African drumming which includes Bata and Dundun, Omele meta. A domain dominated mostly by men and very few women.
As an actress at PSW, Miss Benjamin, as did all the players created and performed roles in many Outreach productions such as “Babatunde”, “Captain Clean” and “Say No to Drugs”. She also debuted in the creation of “Ikpiko” (later called “Sense of Belonging” in the UK).
As a professional actress, Miss Benjamin was also recruited by a parent company, Collective Artistes, to perform at home in Nigeria and abroad in the UK. Seminal to her performance credits were character ensemble roles in Women of Owu by Femi Osofisan and Sadiku in the Barbican’s co-production of Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka both of which toured the UK.
These were the words of the founding Artistic Executive Director of the company, Chuck Mike- Associate Professor, Department of Theatre and Dance University of Richmond, Richmond VA.
