2-year theatrical experiment gets underway on Boston stage with "Sojourners"
BOSTON – A two-year theatrical experiment is now underway in Boston.
The Ufot Family Cycle
The Ufot Family Cycle is a series of nine plays, following three generations of the same family over the decades.
"Sojourners" at the Huntington Theatre is the first production, introducing audiences to a young immigrant couple from Nigeria, looking to earn their degrees in the United States.
"I wanted to explore what it was to build inside this country," playwright Mfoniso Udofia said.
Sojourners, which takes place in 1978, is the first step. The audience meets Abasiama, the family matriarch.
Director Dawn M. Simmons told WBZ-TV the play is all about legacy.
"The decisions that she makes in this story have ripples across generations and then we go far into the future. But this first piece sets up who she is, how she came to be and gets us started on our journey," Simmons said.
Sojourners an "ambitious endeavor"
Actor Joshua Olumide called the project an "ambitious endeavor," one that provides insight.
"This gives us the opportunity to look at a different culture and see parallels and similarities within ourselves. And know that, yeah, we're not very different from each other," Olumide said.
Mfonisio wants the audience to leave with some new perspective, saying, "I hope that I've crafted a world where you can see the interiority of black life, Nigerian life, something that isn't expositional or pandering, something that will help build empathy."
While the first and second plays are at the Huntington, more than two dozen organizations across the region will stage the rest of the cycle.
That's something Simmons is excited to see.
"What's going be a more intimate story? What is going to be a story that needs a big, huge space?" Simmons said. "I actually think that what's really smart about this nine-place cycle is seeking all of these other theaters with their specific artistic skill sets and points of view to really take the tone that we've set, build on it, and explode it."
"Sojourners" at Huntington Theatre
Udofia grew up in central Massachusetts and is thrilled to see her community embrace the project, saying it's "the most brilliant homecoming."
She went on to say, "The City of Boston is far more fantastic than I conceived or knew and all these activation partners and the excitement, I couldn't have imagined it."
Simmons agreed, telling WBZ-TV, "I cannot think of a better city right now, I cannot think of a better artistic community to look at what an American story is and talk about the immigrant experience, how it starts, and again, how it continues on."
You can see the Huntington Theater's production of Sojourners through December 1. The second play in the series, The Grove, will be at the Huntington in February.