The audience rose to its feet in a standing ovation, but the play had not yet even begun. They cheered as Nigerian playwright Mfoniso Udofia arrived on stage while representatives of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu proclaimed that day, Nov. 6, as “Mfoniso Udofia Day” for her narrative’s contributions to the Boston community.
The Huntington Theatre presents “Sojourners” from Oct. 31 to Dec. 1. The play is the first in the Ufot Family Cycle, a nine-play cycle following multiple generations of the same Nigerian family in America. The cycle will unfold across Boston over the next two years.
“Sojourners” has remarkably brought together 35 different organizations across Boston to put the cycle on for audiences across two years, cultivating a strength of community and connection through it.
“Sojourners” introduces audiences to Abasiama and Ukpong, a bright young Nigerian couple living in Houston in 1978. They aim to get university degrees and return home, though Ukpong is quickly enamored with the American culture of Motown and swayed by ‘70s liberation.
The subsequent unlikely friendships Abasiama forms with the fiery Houstonian Moxie and fellow Nigerian immigrant and intellectual known as the Disciple will change the course of her life and the lives of her descendants.
Actress Asha Basha Duniani, who plays Moxie, said that being a part of the play cycle was “absolutely everything,” in an interview with The Beacon
An Atlanta native, she expressed her happiness at being able to travel to Boston for her work and witness this new age, a kind of revolution around what’s happening in theater.
The format of separate but interconnected plays known as “Play Cycles” are not unheard of, but they are rarer in today’s theatrical world. Shakespeare and August Wilson are notable examples of the form. Udofia takes the cycle to a new level by using it to focus on a Nigerian family. The cycle aims to humanize and represent their compelling story in a previously unseen way.
“It’s huge,” Duniani said, particularly highlighting the inclusion of Ibibio, a Nigerian language within the play. “[Udofiia] said we need to learn the … rhythm and the heartbeat of this language, which is phenomenal.”
“It’s great to see so many theaters in the greater Boston area back this project … and value that this is a time when we need to tap into our humanity and acknowledge our similarities and who we are as human beings,” Duniani added.
Duniani had an individual process preparing for the role of Moxie since her character is a Houston native rather than a Nigerian immigrant.
“The biggest thing was working with our speech coach to make sure those [speech] nuances were Houston-specific,” Duniani said.
Her character also has a rather ambiguous ending in the show. Moxie runs off after a meaningful and heated conversation with the Disciple and is never heard from again.
“There needed to be some decision-making since this is the last time we ever see Moxie,” she said. “It was intense.”
“There was just this moment of heartbreaking decision [for Moxie] … where she thinks … I refuse to allow myself to be hurt anymore,” Duniani revealed, remaining unsure of where her character ended up after she left the stage.
The play ends with another harrowing moment of choice, where the main character, Abasiama, begins to step forward and the stage goes black before her foot is able to fall.
“That’s what makes Mfoniso’s writing so good,” Duniani said. “You don’t know what decision she makes until you see the next play. We end up playing ping pong with this timeline.”
Duniani went on to speak about the unique and phenomenal sense of unity she has witnessed through the process, starting from the rehearsal room, and how it has expanded to include so many individuals across greater Boston.
“We’re bringing people who didn’t even know about the Nigerian migration together with the children of those who lived it,” she said.
The play has that power in its performance, introducing language, culture, and lived experience to audiences with varying degrees of awareness of those elements. The humor and humanity the cast of four brought to the stage through the poetry of Udofia’s writing left audience members in awe.
Duniani praised how the play invited people to confront their ignorance around the subject of Nigerian immigration, but with the hope that they might leave the show with a new and more complete understanding of this perspective.
“The audience may think ‘I don’t understand what the characters are saying, but I can feel them,’” Duniani said, “and they’re willing to sit there and find out.”
The second play in the cycle, “The Grove,” will be performed at the Huntington in early 2025.
