OUT OF THE WOODS AND INTO THE GROVE
The second in Mfoniso Udofia’s ambitious nine-play Ufot Family Cycle, The Grove, directed by Awoye Timpo, picks up the story of the Ufot family over three decades after the first play, Sojourners, introduced us to Abasiama Ufot, a Nigerian woman who comes to the United States to further her education. At the end of Sojourners, Abasiama decides to stay behind when her husband returns to Nigeria.
Abigail C. Onwunali
In The Grove, set in 2009, we meet her new husband and her three children. Abasiama (Patrice Johnson Chevannes) is still part of the story, but the focus has shifted to her oldest child, Adiaha (Abigail. C. Onwunali), who has just received her MFA from NYU. Her proud father (Joshua Olamide) is throwing a party to celebrate her accomplishment but tension is in the air: the male relatives—her father and his brothers—celebrate the daughter but have little interest in the opinions of their wives.
The cast
Abigail C. Onwunali and Patrice Johnson Chevannes
There is talk of finding a husband for Adiaha, but she avoids the issue and it’s soon clear why. This is no ordinary coming-out story: set against the backdrop of Jason Aardizone-West’s beautiful rotating set—shimmering with metallic spears that might be trees and populated by female ancestors (called Shadows) dressed in Sarita Fellows‘ traditional Nigerian garments—it dramatizes Adiaha’s struggle to come to terms with her heritage while rebelling against her father’s patriarchal demands. The Shadows speak only a Nigerian language, Ibibio, providing a kind of musical backdrop to the challenges faced by the Ufot family, which is beautifully and movingly resolved in Adiaha’s final poetic monologue.
Abigail C. Onwunali and Valyn Lyric Turner
The Ufot Family Cycle, a two-year city-wide festival involving multiple arts organizations throughout greater Boston, continues with runboyrun, a podcast play directed by Catherine Eaton and produced by Next Chapter Podcasts in partnership with GBH and Boston Public Library; the fourth production in the cycle, Her Portmanteau, directed by Tasia A. Jones, will be a collaboration between Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective, March 27–April 20.
Janelle Grace and Ekemini Ekpo
photos by Marc J. Franklin
The Grove
Huntington Theatre Company
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont St. in Boston,
ends on March 9, 2025
for tickets, call 617-266-0800 or visit Huntington
for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston
