SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE

A “charming bulldozer”
meets a wall of resistance

Anyone who has had a home renovation knows the way a contractor can take over one’s life. Suddenly, strange men (usually men) clomp around in heavy boots in the early morning, tearing up floors and tearing down walls. There is noise and dust and numerous decisions to be made about colors and materials, all on a timeline dictated by strangers eager to finish the job—until, that is, they are too busy with other work to finish it. And yet, once the project is over and done, assuming all goes well, there is a sense of satisfaction: clean, freshly painted spaces reflect—and perhaps exceed—one’s dreams. Such a renovation can lead to a personal renewal and a new perspective.

Dawn M. Simmons provides masterful direction to bring to life In Old Age, Mfoniso Udofia‘s cleverly written portrayal of the balancing act between the physical and spiritual that can be affected by such a renovation. In Old Age is the eighth play of Udofia’s nine-part Ufot Family Cycle, a two-year project involving multiple theater companies and arts organizations throughout Greater Boston. Simmons directed Sojourners, the first play in the cycle, at the Huntington in 2024. In that play, Abasiama, newly arrived in the United States from Nigeria, was a graduate student about to give birth to a child that she sends back to Nigeria without her.

Subsequent plays center on Abasiama’s children, her grandchild, and her husband (deceased by the time we get to In Old Age). In this penultimate chapter, our focus returns to Abasiama, now in her eighties, as feisty and opinionated as ever.

Abasiama has been portrayed by different performers in various productions. Here she is expressively rendered by Ebony Marshall-Oliver, by turns demanding, fearful, insightful, powerful, funny, and conniving. It’s the prospect of having her life disrupted by an alien force that leads Abasiama to react negatively when Azell Abernathy (an appealing Marvin Bell) bangs insistently on her door in the early hours.

Abasiama learns from Azell that her daughter, Toyoima, has given a hefty down payment as a gift so that Azell can renovate her mother’s home. Abasiama wants none of it. She makes her own home repairs as she sees fit (no matter if they don’t always work out). She certainly doesn’t want a stranger in her house, demanding she make decisions about flooring and wall colors.

But Azell is, in Abasiama’s words, “a charming bulldozer.” He won’t give up. He can’t, actually—he’s already spent some of the money Toyoima gave him. Well along in years himself, he sees this job as his last, but wasn’t expecting a client like Abasiama, tougher than sheetrock, more determined than nails. A battle of wills ensues as these two complex and sympathetic characters sort out the rules of engagement and their spheres of power.

Abasiama’s house is itself something of a character. Scenic designer Jeffrey Peterson dynamic framework and Arshan Gailus‘s sound design make the home an active participant in the story. Chloe Moore’s costumes aid Abasiama’s transformation—her mud-colored clothing becomes a vibrant yellow by play’s end, emphasizing her inner and outer beauty.

Once she recognizes the demons lurking within herself and in the depths of her dilapidated house, Abasiama decides she is willing to make herself vulnerable and open to change—but only if Azell does the same. The appearance of a mysterious hole in her floor, a callback to The Ceremony, the sixth play in the cycle, deepens the play’s connections to the larger Ufot Family saga.

Together, they find a way to make the repairs that Abasiama’s house—and their spirits—require. The transformation, like a home renovation, is uncomfortable at times, but the result is restorative.

In the end, those of us who have seen all the plays in the cycle thus far will have a deep understanding of the Ufot family, and its many joys and sorrows. I anticipate, even expecting the loss of further connections, Adia & Clora Snatch Joy, the final installment of this profoundly moving and courageously ambitious project.

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photos by Nile Scott Studio

In Old Age
Front Porch Arts Collective
Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre
Emerson Paramount Center, 559 Washington St. in Boston
1 hour 45 minutes, no intermission
Tues–Thurs at 7:30; Fri at 8; Sat at 2 & 8; Sun at 2
ends on June 28, 2026
for tickets ($38.50–$55), call 617.824.8400 or visit Front Porch Arts Collective

for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston

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BIO: Lynne Weiss is a member of the Boston Theater Critics Association. Her reviews, travel tales, and progressively optimistic opinions are on her substack.