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One of Nigeria’s
pioneering actresses, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, will be feted by fellow
artists in Lagos next weekend, at a celebration of her 70th birthday.
The event, an Arthouse Forum organised by the Committee for Relevant
Art (CORA) in collaboration with the African Movie Academy Awards
(AMAA), holds on Sunday, February 13 at Tribeca.

Tagged ‘State of
the Stage: Conversation With and Around Taiwo Ajai–Lycett’, the forum
presents an opportunity for the arts community to look back on the
achievements of the veteran actress, who turned 70 earlier this month.
There will be a cross-dialogue between generations of thespians, as the
forum also promises a conversation between Ajai-Lycett with two of her
fellow actresses, Tina Mba and Kate Henshaw-Nuttal. There will also be
an interactive session, with a Question and Answer segment between
Ajai-Lycett and the audience. The event will be moderated by playwright
Wole Oguntokun, the director of the popular Theatre @ Terra.

Born on February 3,
1941, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett relocated to England in 1960, and worked in the
British Civil Service until 1970. She trained for an acting career at
the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the City Literary Institute
and the Dance Centre in Covent Garden – all in London. In a long
career, she has featured in many UK theatre productions, at venues
including The Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Opera House. She
performed as recently at 2007 in the play, ‘Critical Mass’ at the
Almeida Theatre in London.

Ajai-Lycett’s many
television appearances include one of the popular British sitcoms of
the 1970s, ‘For Better For Worse’. In the Hollywood film, ‘A Warm
December’, she appeared alongside the iconic African American actor,
Sidney Poitier. Her appearance with Michael Crawford (who played Frank
Spencer) in the classic British TV comedy, ‘Some Mothers Do Have ‘Em’
is a popular video on YouTube, and has introduced her to a legion of
younger Nigerian fans.

Since initially
returning to Nigeria in 1976, the actress has filled many memorable
roles in Nigerian theatre productions and on television. She performed
in J.P. Clark’s ‘Song of a Goat’, Soyinka’s ‘Death and the King’s
Horseman’ and ‘The Lion and the Jewel’; as well as ‘Wale Ogunyemi’s
‘The Divorce’. She has also worked with younger dramatists like Wole
Oguntokun, who directed her in his play, ‘The Inheritors’.

Arthouse Forum for Taiwo Ajai-Lycett holds from 2p.m. on Sunday,
February 13 at Tribeca, Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island,
Lagos.