ABOUT:

How do we navigate the contrast between African and Black American culture? Can love bridge a transcontinental divide? A 12-year-old African boy arrives in New York’s Little Senegal and joins a youth center. What happens when he falls in love with an African American girl?

Maura Tighe, Boston Arts Academy Artistic Director: “We are eager to explore this relationship with The Huntington, Ms. Udofia, and her amazing play, Kufre n’ Quay. The project is an opportunity for our students to engage in high level art making and also explore work that is culturally relevant to their lives. The experience is going to be phenomenal for our kids.”

Nick Vargas, Executive Director Wheelock Family Theatre: “Wheelock Family Theatre is excited to partner on the Ufot Family Cycle! This historic initiative will provide audiences from Greater Boston & beyond with the opportunity to experience and celebrate the work of Mfoniso Udofia.”

ABOUT:

What can our parents give us – especially when those gifts were not given to parents themselves? Disciple’s only son Ekong prepares for his wedding day – but to gather what he needs for the ritual, he must ask his father, still torn apart by war.

Megan Sandberg-Zakian, Artistic Director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre: “Boston Playwrights’ Theatre is dedicated to the voice and vision of the playwright – and so nothing could be more exciting to us than participating in a hugely ambitious project designed to uplift the voice and vision of an extraordinary (and locally grown!) writer like Mfoniso. We are honored and delighted to be a part of the laboratory in which the Ufot Family cycle is nurtured, and we are particularly thrilled that so many of the plays will be first or second productions of new work.”

Harvey Young, Dean of Boston University College of Fine Arts: “I am inspired by Loretta Greco’s vision to bring Boston’s theatre community together. As both a longtime collaborator with The Huntington and the sponsor of two Boston professional theatres—Wheelock Family Theatre and Boston Playwright’s Theatre, Boston University is thrilled to join in this celebration of new work and transformative artistry.”

ABOUT:

What does it mean to come from a culture that believes you cannot steal what is already yours? Brilliant scholar Toyoima Ufot’s lonely path in academia was built directly on her father Disciple’s work. After she is accused of plagiarism, she travels to Nigeria, a journey that both unleashes her history and heals.

Marta Rainer, Wellesley Repertory Theatre Artistic Director: ” We Wellesley College graduates who have been galvanized by the impactful possibilities within the field of live performing arts are Wellesley Rep. We who strive to connect with, teach, encourage, and gather our communities through the sharing of our complex theatrical work define Wellesley Rep as a global and multigenerational repertory of autonomous makers, striding our unique creative paths from the shared starting point of Wellesley College. Mfoniso embodies this mission so exquisitely – so inspiringly! – and we are extremely honored to support this expansive collaboration with our producing peers to share her artistic voice and vision.”

ABOUT:

Can we continue to evolve in our final years? Abasiama still lives in the same house after her husband’s death. Soon she learns the true nature of love with an unlikely new partner, the church-going carpenter Azell, and her life takes a new turn. A clean house and a healed soul frees Abasiama to embark on the last love voyage of her life.

Ronee Penoi, Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts and ArtsEmerson and Director of Artistic Programming: “ArtsEmerson is delighted to be in partnership with our friends at Front Porch Collective to support In Old Age as part of the Ufot Family Cycle. At ArtsEmerson we are committed to uplifting stories that inspire civic transformation and celebrate the diasporas that make up our city. We also know we can’t do this work alone and we are so excited to join The Huntington and all the other producers and partners to embark on this beautiful collaboration for the city and community we love.”

Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Co-Producing Artistic Director of Front Porch Arts Collective: “The Porch was built through collaborations, partnership and community, dedicated to uplifting stories of Black culture both in this country and around the world. We are thrilled to be in community with all the company producing the Ufot Family Cycle, and overjoyed to be embarking on or first co-production with ArtsEmerson, a company we’ve admired for so long, with In Old Age. In Old Age tells the story of Abasiama, later in life, beautiful story of a Nigerian woman later in life who must cleanse her past if she is to embark on a newfound romance.”

ABOUT:

Daughter Adiaha travels to South Carolina in search of her mother’s partner, Azell. Instead, she finds Clora – and a strangely familiar house in Gullah South. Sparks fly as they fight, make messes, and work to understand their history. Together, Adiaha and Clora imagine new ways forward, guided by spirit women who push them into their destiny.

Nina Yoshida Nelsen, Boston Lyric Opera Artistic Director: “Co-producing Adiaha and Clora Snatch Joy with The Huntington is going to make an exhilarating end to the Ufot Family Cycle project. Mfoniso’s brilliant, expansive series tells the kind of rich story we love bringing to audiences. This striking folk opera will be a unique and uplifting addition to BLO’s artistic offerings. As the only Ufot Family Cycle production with singing, we are delighted to participate in this epic collaboration across Boston’s theatrical institutions.”

ABOUT:

In Sojourners, marriage, migration, and the pursuit of education collide with surprising humor when a young and brilliant Nigerian couple arrives in Houston in 1978, looking to earn their degrees and bring insights back to their home country. But when Abasiama discovers that her husband has been seduced by Motown records and American culture, she begins a surprising friendship with a local woman named Moxie. Director Dawn M. Simmons helms the lively and nuanced Sojourners at the historic Huntington Theatre following her acclaimed production of K-I-S-S-I-N-G at the Calderwood Pavilion.

“Wonderful! Sojourners is a fabulous first step in beginning this ambitious two-year journey.”

– METR Mag

“Epic and intimate, Sojourners has set a dynamic theatrical journey in motion! This origin story swells with poetry, emotion, and characters whose lives and fortunes compel us to follow!”

– Joyce Kulhawik, JoycesChoices.com

“Compelling, rich, and moving! Sojourners expertly kicks off nine-play cycle at The Huntington.”

– WBUR 

ABOUT:

Playwright Mfoniso Udofia tells the story of a family homecoming, asking how we draw on the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors when the bonds of family are stretched to the limit. Abasiama’s eldest daughter Adiaha believes that becoming a writer can make her family proud, but at her graduation party, she has to choose whether to fulfill her parents’ desires or stay true to her own dreams. Director Awoye Timpo (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington) reunites with longtime collaborator Udofia for this story of a young woman coming into herself, with the rich heart of a family drama against the thrilling theatrical backdrop of a Greek chorus of ancestors.

“A beautifully humane and deeply moving work! The response from the audience was among the most fervent I’ve ever seen.”

– The Boston Globe

“Impossibly gorgeous! A radiant production that pricks the heart!”

– WBUR

“The Grove’s final scene is a thing of beauty… it left me overwhelmed and weeping tears of joy.”

– Joyce Kulhawik, JoycesChoices.com

“Absolutely spectacular! The combined performances and level of creativity involved throughout the engaging story is simply off the charts!”

– METR Mag

ABOUT:

What happens when a civil war ends politically – but continues inside the body? When does trauma become tradition? Every day, Disciple and Abasiama relive the same day over and over from the Biafran War. The survival of their 30-year marriage depends on building new vocabularies and daring, once again, to live moment by moment.

“A haunting and eventually shattering work, “runboyrun” is being adapted into an audio drama slated for release in late April.”

 –The Boston Globe

“The cast’s all-out performances gave “runboyrun” a steadily accumulating power, along with Udofia’s script.”

–The Boston Globe

“What a gifted writer Udofia is, possessed of the ability and discipline to delve into the mysteries of human behavior while mining a vein of lyricism, even poetry.”

–The Boston Globe

ABOUT:

What happens when there are two “first-born” daughters with the same mother? Can the two women both inherit Abasiama’s birthright? Her Portmanteau is an explosive story of betrayal and forgiveness, centering on a Nigerian mother in the U.S. and her daughters who lived very different lives. A reunion forces them to reconcile their past full of clashing traditions, and a family legacy that spans time, culture, and generations. 

BUY TICKETS

“Mfoniso Udofia’s nine-play cycle about three generations of a Nigerian-American family has proven to be one of the most exciting things to happen in Boston theater in a long time.”

–The Boston Globe

“Directed by Tasia A. Jones, Her Portmanteau features a flat-out wonderful cast of three.”

–The Boston Globe

“Her Portmanteau,” is a work of fiery intensity

–The Boston Globe