Cast and Creative Team Set for THE GROVE World Premiere at The Huntington
Performances will run from Friday, February 7 – Sunday, March 9, 2025.
The Huntington will continue the sweeping nine-play Ufot Family Cycle and revealed the cast and creative team of The Grove, the stirring and timely play written by Mfoniso Udofia and directed by Awoye Timpo (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington). A world premiere and the second play in Boston’s epic nine-play Ufot Family Cycle, The Grove runs from Friday, February 7 – Sunday, March 9, 2025 at the Calderwood Pavilion.
When Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco joined The Huntington in 2022, she brought with her a longstanding partnership and friendship with playwright Mfoniso Udofia, and a vision for producing the complete Ufot Family Cycle in the Boston area – a festival marked by radical collaboration with an unprecedented scale and scope across our city. After two years of planning and leadership from The Huntington, all nine of the Ufot Family Cycle plays are being produced in Greater Boston by 30+ partners over two seasons, starting with the Huntington productions of Sojourners and The Grove.
“Much like August Wilson’s cycle plays, each play within Mfoniso’s cycle stands brilliantly on its own, prompting new questions, ideas, and conversations,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “The Grove leaps forward in time and invites us to Abasiama’s daughter, Adiaha’s grad school graduation party complete with the magnificently interwoven dreams and hopes of her parents, uncles, siblings, and friends.”
In The Grove, playwright Mfoniso Udofia tells the story of a family homecoming, asking how we draw on the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors when the bonds of family are stretched to the limit. Abasiama’s eldest daughter Adiaha believes that becoming a writer can make her family proud, but at her graduation party, she has to choose whether to fulfill her parents’ desires or stay true to her own dreams. Director Awoye Timpo (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington) reunites with longtime collaborator Udofia for this story of a young woman coming into herself, with the rich heart of a family drama against the thrilling theatrical backdrop of a Greek chorus of ancestors.
“The second play in the Ufot Family Cycle, The Grove, holds a special place in my heart as it was the first play I ever wrote,” says playwright Mfoniso Udofia. “Following Adiaha, Abasiama’s daughter, as she navigates coming of age, The Grove explores the delicate balance between personal desires and the traditions of the close-knit Nigerian community she holds dear.”
Director Awoye Timpo reunites with longtime collaborator Mfoniso Udofia for a play with the rich heart of a family drama told with the support of a theatrically thrilling chorus of ancestors. The story picks up a couple decades after the 1970s action of Sojourners, finding Nigerian immigrants Abasiama and Disciple Ufot living with their family in Worcester, Massachusetts. Whether audience members are continuing the Ufot family’s journey, or beginning it here, there are a host of multi-generational characters to enjoy meeting in The Grove.
The Grove was commissioned and developed by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company. The script also received development support at New Dramatists through the Bucket List Initiative, a program supported by a grant from Venturous Theatre Fund of Tides Foundation, and received a presentation as part of The Other Season at Seattle Repertory Theatre 2016-2017. The Huntington’s 2025 production marks the first time the piece will be fully produced and shared with audiences. The Huntington’s production of The Grove is supported in part by the Barr Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The cast of The Grove includes:
Patrice Johnson Chevannes as Abasiama Ufot, the Ufot family matriarch, holding a quiet strength. Credits include: Racing Demon and The Crucible on Broadway, and Endgame at Irish Rep.
Abigail C. Onwunali as Adiaha Ufot, Abasiama and Disciple’s eldest daughter, home from grad school and grappling with her identity. Credits include: Sojourners at The Huntington, JaJa’s African Hair Braiding on Broadway, and The Half-God of Rainfall at New York Theatre Workshop.
Joshua Olumide as Disciple Ufot, the Ufot family patriarch and Abasiama’s husband with intense faith and expectations of his family. Credits include: Sojourners at The Huntington, The Winter’s Tale at Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and A Raisin in the Sun at New Rep.
Amani Kojo as Ekong Ufot, Abasiama and Disciple’s teenage son, very American. Credits include: Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Good Goods, and Titus Andronicus at SUNY Purchase.
Aisha Wura Akorede as Toyoima Ufot, Abasiama and Disciple’s daughter, the middle child, and very smart. Credits include: Sojourners at The Huntington, and Potus and A Doll’s House at Emerson College.
Paul-Robert Pryce as Udosen Udoh, a young, progressive, and charming friend of the Ufot family. Credits include: King Lear and Merchant of Venice at Compagnia de Colombari, and Pecong at the National Black Theatre of Harlem.
Maduka Steady as Godwin Inyang, friend of the Ufot family, older, verbose, and fiery. Credits include: Amy’s View on Broadway, Mud River Stone at Playwrights Horizons, and Scapin at Roundabout Theater.
Valyn Lyric Turner as Kimberly Gaines, Adiaha’s girlfriend, a passionate African American artist. Credits include: John Proctor is the Villain at The Huntington, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Gloucester Stage, and A Raisin in the Sun at New Rep.
Ekemini Ekpo, Janelle Grace, Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Chibuba Bloom Osuala, Dayenne Walters as Shadows, the women who comprise Adiaha’s ancestral line.
Understudies include: Rebekah Brunson, Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Kandyce Whittingham, and Sharmarke Yusuf.
The creative team for The Grove includes choreography by Adesola Osakalumi (Skeleton Crew on Broadway), scenic design by Jason Ardizzone-West (Sojourners at The Huntington), costume design by Sarita Fellows (Sojourners at The Huntington), lighting design by Reza Behjat (English on Broadway), and sound design and original music by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (Sojourners at The Huntington). The hair, wig, and makeup designer is Earon Chew Nealey (Sojourners at The Huntington). The assistant directors are Rebekah Brunson and Kandyce Whittingham. The dramaturgs are Charles Haugland and Donnetta Lavinia Grays. The intimacy coach is Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson, the fight director is Jesse Hinson, the vocal and dialect coach is Dawn-Elin Fraser, the language consultant is Emmanuel Sylvester, and the cultural consultant is Ademola Bello. The production stage manager is Emily F. McMullen and the stage manager is Lauren J. Burke. Casting is by Janet Foster.
This Cycle marks the first time all nine plays will be complete and performed in their intended order. In addition to producing the first three plays, The Huntington will also serve as a motherboard of resources and connection to bolster the creative process and success of the remaining six productions that will be mounted through 2026 by and with arts organizations, universities, social organizations, non-profits, and a host of community activation partners.
Each of the productions will be professionally filmed by partner Kligerman Productions to expand the reach of the Ufot Family Cycle and preserve it in perpetuity, allowing the Ufot Family Cycle to be taught in educational settings as part of the American theatrical canon.
Comments
Videos