Sojourners
Available through December 29th
Ufot Family Cycle
Written by Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Dawn M. Simmons
The Huntington Theatre
264 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115
Closed captioning is available while viewing the Sojourners digital stream.
Approximate run time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Content Advisories: Sojourners contains theatrical haze and smoking (cocoa shell cigarettes – tobacco and nicotine-free).
Synopsis:
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.
‘Sojourners’ rises to the challenge — and beyond — of launching a nine-play cycle
“Job One for any playwright is to get an audience to care about her characters, to feel personally invested in what happens to them — or doesn’t happen for them.
Then there’s the element of choice, the force that drives many of our most powerful dramas. In terms of plot, stakes, and overall dramatic energy, it helps immeasurably if your characters stand at a crossroads, faced with choices that could determine the course of their lives.
Does the play’s subject matter reflect a certain topicality, seeming as if it was written in our current moment, even if it was staged years ago? Does the writer seem to have a genuine passion and sense of urgency about her subject?
When it comes to Mfoniso Udofia’s “Sojourners,” now at The Huntington in an outstanding production under the direction of Dawn M. Simmons, it’s a case of: Check, check, check, and check.”
“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
Learn more about Sojourners:
Cast & Crew:
Abigail C. Onwunali
Abasiama
Abigail C. Onwunali
Abigail C. Onwunali Broadway: JaJa’s African Hair Braiding (Manhattan Theater Club). Off Broadway: The Half-God of Rainfall, for the honey you gotta say when (New York Theater Workshop); Bloodwork (National Black Theater).
Asha Basha Duniani
Moxie
Asha Basha Duniani
Asha Basha Duniani Regional: Furlough’s Paradise (Alliance Theatre); Cullud Wattah (Actor’s Express); Eclipsed, In the Continuum (Synchronicity Theatre); Jelly’s Last Jam (North Carolina Black Repertory Company). Tours: Mad At Miles (Triad Stage Touring Theatre, 2017-2020). Film / TV: Westbrook Media, Warner Bros., Magic Lemonade Prod. Education: BFA, Professional Theatre (North Carolina A&T State University, class of 2020). @asha.b.duniani
Nomè SiDone
Ukpong
Nomè SiDone
Nomè SiDone Regional: Richard II, The Heart of Robin, The Sea Maid Music, The Taming of the Shrew (Hudson Valley Shakespeare). University: Macbeth, Hedda Gabler, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Udo, (Yale School of Drama). Education: Master’s in Acting (Yale School of Drama); Bachelor’s (UNC School of the Arts, UNCSA). A proud immigrant from Lagos, Nigeria, Nomè is an actor/writer residing in NYC.
Joshua Olumide
Disciple
Joshua Olumide
Joshua Olumide Regional: The Winter’s Tale (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); Romeo and Juliet (Classic Theatre of Maryland); Our Town (People’s Light); Macbeth (Hanover Theatre Rep); A Raisin in the Sun (New Rep); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Willpower Tour). Film: American Fiction (MGM, Oscar winning film), Detroit (Annapurna Pictures). @josholumide_
Aisha Akorede
U/S Abasiama
Aisha Akorede
Aisha Akorede University: Potus, A Doll’s House (Emerson College). Education: BFA Theater and Performance (Emerson College, ’26). @wuraakorede
Kiera Prusmack
U/S Moxie
Kiera Prusmack
Kiera Prusmack Regional: The Boy Who Kissed the Sky (Company One); Macbeth (Times Fool Company). University: Rent, ROE, Little Shop of Horrors, Metamorphoses, Food for the Gods, Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Connecticut Repertory Theatre); I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Student Body (UMass Boston). Education: MFA (University of Connecticut/CRT). kieraprusmack.com
Malik Mitchell
U/S Disciple, Ukpong
Malik Mitchell
Malik Mitchell Regional: Choir Boy, Pass Over, Once on this Island (SpeakEasy Stage); In the Heights, Bud, Not Buddy (Wheelock Family Theatre); The Bomb-itty of Errors (The Actors Shakespeare Project). Education: Boston Arts Academy, OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center.
Dawn M. Simmons
Director
Dawn M. Simmons
Dawn M. Simmons The Huntington: Fat Ham and K-I-S-S-I-N-G (Co-Produced with Front Porch Arts Collective). Front Porch Arts Collective: Queens Girl in the World, The Three Musketeers.
Mfoniso Udofia
Playwright
Mfoniso Udofia
Mfoniso Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College and obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater [A.C.T.]. While at A.C.T., she co-pioneered, THE NIA PROJECT which provided artistic outlets for San Francisco youth.
Kelsey Fonise
Associate Director
Kelsey Fonise
Kelsey Fonise The Huntington: K-I-S-S-I-N-G (assistant director), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (actor). Regional: Fabulation… (Lyric Stage – assistant director); BLKS (SpeakEasy Stage – actor); Nawfside (The Tank – Producer, writer, director); Island Takeover (54 Below – Producer).
Jason Ardizzone-West
Scenic Designer
Jason Ardizzone-West
Jason Ardizzone-West The Huntington: K-I-S-S-I-N-G, The Bluest Eye. Off Broadway: Syncing Ink (Apollo); shadow/land, The Michaels, Illyria, Women of a Certain Age, What Did You Expect?, Hungry (The Public); Monsoon Wedding (St Ann’s); Wedding Band (TFANA); Elyria (Atlantic); Good Grief (Vineyard). Regional: Redwood (La Jolla); I Am Delivered’t (Dallas / Louisville); The Importance of Being Earnest (Pittsburgh / Baltimore); Bliss (5th Avenue); School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Berkeley); Once On This Island (Cincinnati / Louisville); Uncle Vanya (Old Globe).
Sarita Fellows
Costume Designer
Sarita Fellows
Sarita Fellows was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Huntington: Joy and Pandemic, Our Daughters Like Pillars. Broadway: Death of a Salesman. Off Broadway: Elyria (Atlantic Theater Company); The Ally, A Bright Room Called Day (Public Theater).
Aja M. Jackson
Lighting Designer
Aja M. Jackson
Aja M. Jackson The Huntington: John Proctor is the Villain, The Band’s Visit, The Art of Burning. Broadway: Fat Ham*, Lempicka*. Off Broadway: A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, Rock and Roll Man, Monsoon Wedding*. Regional: Hear Word (ART / The Public Theater Under the Radar Festival); Lost In Yonkers, The Art of Burning, Pride and Prejudice, Simona’s Search (Hartford Stage); The Nerd (Alley Theatre); A Doll’s House, Harvey, World Goes Round, Behold, A Negress, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Everyman Theatre); Fences (Shakespeare and Company); World Goes Round (Olney Theatre); Pimpinone and Ino (Boston Early Music Festival); Goddess* (Berkeley Rep).
Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen
Sound Design + Original Music
Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen
Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen The Huntington: A Doll’s House, Awake and Sing, Good People, Private Lives, How Shakespeare Won the West, King Hedley II, Jitney, and others. Broadway: music composition and sound for No Man’s Land & Waiting for Godot, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Miracle Worker, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Speed of Darkness; and sound for Sweat, The Price, Larry David’s Fish in the Dark, This Is Our Youth, Of Mice and Men, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf , Superior Donuts, reasons to be pretty, A Year with Frog and Toad, The Song of Jacob Zulu and The Grapes of Wrath.
Earon Chew Nealey
Hair, Wig, and Makeup Designer
Earon Chew Nealey
Earon Chew Nealey The Huntington: Toni Stone, Fat Ham, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Broadway: Fat Ham (Associate Designer), Macbeth, Chicken and Biscuits, Sweat. Off Broadway: Bad Kreyól, Three Houses (The Signature); Table 17 (Makeup Design – MCC); Midsummer Night Dream, Malvolio, Twelfth Night (Classical Theater of Harlem); Hamlet, The Harder They Come, Fat Ham, Cullad Wattah, Mojada (Public Theater); On Sugarland (NYTW).
Dawn-Elin Fraser
Voice and Dialect Coach
Dawn-Elin Fraser
Dawn-Elin Fraser North American Dialect Coach: Hamilton. Broadway: Lempicka, SUFFS, JaJa’s African Hair Braiding, Here Lies Love, Parade; & Juliet, Macbeth, Tina, What the Constitution Means to Me, Once on this Island, Waitress. Off Broadway: FLEX (Lincoln Center); Buena Vista Social Club (Atlantic Theater); Richard III, Merry Wives (The Delacorte); Fat Ham, SUFFS, Barbeque (The Public Theater); Nollywood Dreams (MCC); How to Defend Yourself, Half God… (NYTW); Twilight: Los Angeles, Fires in the Mirror (Signature Theater).
Emmanuel Sylvester
Language Consultant
Brandon G. Green
Fight Director & Intimacy Coach
Christine Mok
Dramaturg
Christine Mok
Christine Mok The Huntington: The Heart Sellers. Off Broadway: The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Company), Harvest (LaMaMa). Regional: The Heart Sellers (Milwaukee Rep), Snow in Midsummer (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Madama Butterfly (Opera Theatre of St Louis), The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Yale Rep).
Janet Foster, CSA
NY Casting Director
Janet Foster, CSA
Janet Foster, CSA has been casting for over 35 years. At The Huntington, she recently worked on Leopoldstadt, Toni Stone, and The Band’s Visit. Eight years at American Conservatory Theater included working with directors Carey Perloff, Mark Lamos, Mark Rucker, Annie Kaufmann, Loretta Greco, and many more. Her career prior to ACT was in NYC with nine years at Playwrights Horizons, first as assistant and then as casting director.
Emily F. McMullen
Production Stage Manager
Emily F. McMullen
Emily F. McMullen has stage managed over 30 shows over the past nine seasons at The Huntington, including Leopoldstadt, Toni Stone, John Proctor is the Villain, The Band’s Visit, The Lehman Trilogy, Clyde’s, The Art of Burning, Common Ground Revisited, Hurricane Diane, Sweat, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Indecent, Romeo and Juliet, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Man in the Ring, The Niceties, Top Girls, Bad Dates, Tartuffe, and Merrily We Roll Along.
Lauren J. Burke
Stage Manager
Lauren J. Burke
Lauren J. Burke The Huntington: K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Regional: Front Porch Arts Collective, American Repertory Theatre, Boston Baroque, North Shore Music Theatre, Plays in Place, SpeakEasy Stage, Revels, Central Square, Lyric Stage, Hangar Theatre, WAM, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Reagle Music Theatre, Poets’ Theatre, Israeli Stage, Boston Ballet, Boston Opera Collaborative. University: Brandeis University, Boston University, Harvard University, Suffolk University. Education: BA from Suffolk University. Lauren is a member of Actor’s Equity Association.
SOJOURNERS ADDITIONAL STAFF
Associate Director…………………………………….Kelsey Fonise
Fight Director and Intimacy Coach……..Brandon G. Green
Language Consultant…………………….Emmanuel Sylvester
Associate Scenic Designer………………………….Baron Pugh
Assistant Scenic Designer………………..Teresa L. Willimas, Sean Sanford
Production Assistant……………………………………Emma Hunt
Northeastern Co-Op…………………………….Karen Gallagher
Carpenters ……………………………………………Elise Tuckwood, Harley Novy, Spencer Cohen. Lucas Dixon, TimothyFontaine, Zack Graczyk, Michelle Walker, Nick Robinette
Scenic Artist………………………………………………..Sam Galvao
Prop Artisan……………………………………Andrew T. Reynolds
Run Crew………………………………………………..Nick Robinette
Costume Design Assistant……………………Jaimy Escobedo
Wardrobe Swing…………………………….Jennie Stowe Fuchs
Wig Run…………………………………………………..Kiera Escalera
Electricians…………………………………………………Klara Ballay, Dillon Brooks, Jamie Carty, Emma Currier-Dougherty, Kelly Furman, Violet Gayzagian, Greg Hanawalt, Hannah Jope, Leo Khomiakov, Eri Lackey, Redacted Maxwell, James Mcnary, Jude Riley, Isaac Roussak, Alisa Saisakorn, Benedikt Winkler
Brighter Boston Interns………………Irea Blue, Rain Collins
Audio Run (A2) …………………………………..Madonna McGuire
View the Digital Program:
From the playwright Mfoniso Udofia:
“I am thrilled to announce the production of the first two plays of the Ufot Family Cycle this season. Sojourners serves as the origin story within this 9-play cycle, introducing Abasiama, my matriarch – a dynamic and forward-thinking woman from whom an entire Nigerian lineage in America will emerge.”
From Artistic Director Loretta Greco:
“This play launches a city-wide Cycle of plays with a host of thrilling colleagues that came together this past summer to share our plans for this one of a kind two-season celebration with the City of Boston.”
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