Round House Theatre Kicks Off 47th Season With Acclaimed Nigerian-American Drama SOJOURNERS

Round House Theatre kicks off its 2024-2025 Season with an acclaimed Nigerian-American drama, Sojourners, written by Mfoniso Udofia and the first play in her nine-part Ufot Cycle. Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton, Sojourners is a testament of the complexity of the American Dream through the lens of Nigerian culture. 

Abasiama and her husband Ukpong are Nigerian immigrants studying and living in Texas in the 1970s. Ukpong is exhilarated by the promises of America, but Abasiama is homesick and frustrated by Ukpong's frequent absences. As Abasiama struggles with the physical pain of her pregnancy, the demands of work and schooling, the isolation of being away from her family, and the uncertainty of her future, an unexpected community inspires her to forge her own path. The first play in Mfoniso Udofia's epic nine-part Ufot Cycle depicting the Nigerian-American experience, Sojourners is a “moving and powerful” (The New York Times) testament to the complexity of the American dream.  

“We're ecstatic to kick off the 2024-2025 season with Mfoniso Udofia's Sojourners,” says Artistic Director Ryan Rilette. “Mfoniso's 9-play Ufot Cycle is one of the most ambitious, epic, and thrilling things happening in American theater today. We are excited to officially introduce the cycle with Sojourners, the origin story, after developing Adia & Clora Snatch Joy, one of the later plays, in our National Capital New Play Festival in 2023. We have also commissioned another of the Cycle plays, so we expect that Sojourners will be the first of many Mfoniso plays that you will see at Round House in the coming years.”

“I'm so excited to work on Mfoniso's beautiful play,” says Director Valerie Curtis-Newton. Sojourners is a story about an immigrant, Abasiama, who is caught in the tug-of-war between loyalty to Nigeria and the lure of the American Dream. We are asking to imagine the feeling of stepping off a plane in a new country. Everything is unfamiliar. So different from your expectations. Everything is part real and part illusion, just like the life she was promised. Abasiama learns that the world is taut and full of dualities: Dreams vs. Reality; Freedom vs. Encumbrance; and Duty vs. Choice. She must discover her own way – combining the old ways and the new.”

The brilliant cast includes Opa Adeyemo (The First Deep Breath at Geffen Playhouse), Renea S. Brown (The Mountaintop and Nollywood Dreams at Round House Theatre), Kambi Gathesha (What to Send Up When it Goes Down at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and The Bakkhai at Baltimore Centerstage), and Billie Krishawn (Metamorphoses at Folger Theatre and Angels in America at Arena Stage). 

The cast is joined by a dynamic creative team, which includes Scenic Designer Paige Hathaway, Costume Designer Ivania Stack, Lighting Designer Porche McGovern, Sound Designer Kenny Neal, Properties Coordinator Chelsea Dean, Dialect Coach Dawn-Elin Fraser, Casting Director Sarah Cooney, Dramaturg Naysan Mojgani, and Production Stage Manager Jazzy Davis. 

Tickets may be purchased by calling 240.644.1100 or ordering online at RoundHouseTheatre.org. Round House Theatre is located at 4545 East-West Highway, one block from Wisconsin Avenue and the Bethesda station on Metro's Red Line.

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