Baye Peulh, seven years already: laughter as a legacy
On October 6, 2017, Senegal lost El Hadj Oumar Ba, known as Baye Peulh, following a long illness. Emblematic actor of the Daaray Kocc troupe, he formed with Makhourédia Guèye, who died in 2008, one of the most famous duos of Senegalese popular theater. Together, they left their mark on several generations of spectators, making people laugh while denouncing, with finesse, the failings of society.
It was enough to see them appear on stage to trigger bursts of laughter. For more than thirty years, these two accomplices played colorful characters, often rivals in Daaray Kocc’s plays, before becoming familiar figures on the small screen and in advertising. But behind the character of Baye Peulh hid a man with a rich background, far from the stage.
Read also: Makhourédia Guèye: 17 years already, the legacy of a cinema legend
Before Baye Peulh, there was El Hadj Oumar Ba. At the age of 20, he joined the Army and served notably in Algeria and France. He spent a total of 16 years in the army, before leaving the institution at 36, the age limit in force at the time.
Returning to civilian life, he joined the Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (Asecna), where he was recruited as an engineer. He continued his career there until his retirement in 1996. It was during this period that his path crossed that of the man who would become his inseparable stage accomplice: Makhourédia Guèye.
The legendary duo
“When I was at Asecna, I had breakfast every day at the local tangana. It was there that I met him in 1980. He asked me to do a duet with him, because according to him, we were born under the same star. He approached me several times and, to tease me, he would say to me: “I’m handsome, you’re naughty, we’d make a great duo in comedy.” »
This is how El Hadj Oumar Ba joined the Daaray Kocc troupe in 1980. After several auditions, the actor took his first steps in the company and was soon given a name which would eventually eclipse his real first name.
It was in 1981 that the nickname “Baye Peulh” definitely stuck to him, during a play filmed in Saint-Louis in which he played the role of a smuggler for illegal immigrants.
“When we finished filming in St. Louis in 1981, we had to find a name for the play. The entire Daaray Kocc troupe opted for the name Baye Peulh, the character I played in the play. And that’s where this pseudonym came from. Which is moreover better known than my real first name, El Hadj Omar,” he said in an interview with the newspaper L’Observateur.
The year 1981 thus marked a turning point. Baye Peulh takes a liking to the boards and gradually establishes himself within Daaray Kocc. Alongside Makhourédia Guèye, he multiplies his performances and conquers an audience which quickly goes beyond the borders of Senegal. The duo built a solid reputation and became one of the most popular faces of the troupe.
El Hadj Oumar Ba remained faithful to Daaray Kocc until his retirement in 2007. The disappearance of his stage accomplice, Makhourédia Guèye, in 2008, however, left a big void.
After the death of the latter, Baye Peulh had also announced his desire not to return to the stage. “Today that Makhourédia has died, I cannot deal with the new generation. Today’s theater has become very industrial. The actors make it a business, which relegates the educational aspect to the background,” he regretted.
Seven years after his death, the name of Baye Peulh continues to resonate in the memories of those who discovered him on stage, on television or in advertisements. With Makhourédia Guèye, he above all left behind a certain idea of theater: that of an art capable of entertaining without renouncing its role as a mirror of society. The laughter has died down, but the characters continue to live on in the collective memory.
YEAR
