Cast Set for SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU in Rep at NYTW

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) has announced casting for NYTW Usual Suspect Mfoniso Udofia's SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU, presented in repertory and directed by NYTW Usual Suspect and former NYTW 2050 Fellow Ed Sylvanus Iskandar.

SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU will begin performances on Saturday, April 22, 2017 and open on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 E. 4th Street New York, NY 10003) for a limited run through Sunday, June 4, 2017.

In a two-part theatrical event, NYTW Usual Suspect Ed Sylvanus Iskandar brings to life the singularly poetic world of playwright and NYTW Usual SuspectMfoniso Udofia's SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU. Performed in repertory, these two chapters of Udofia's sweeping, nine-part saga, The Ufot Cycle, chronicle the triumphs and losses of the tenacious matriarch of a Nigerian family.

The cast for SOJOURNERS will feature Lakisha Michelle May (Everybody) as Moxie Wilis, Chinasa Ogbuagu (The Qualms) as Abasiama Ekpeyoung, Hubert Point-Du Jour (Every Angel is Brutal) as Ukpong Ekpeyoung, and Chinaza Uche (Dolphins and Sharks) as Disciple Ufot.

The cast for HER PORTMANTEAU will feature Jenny Jules (The Crucible) as Abasiama Ufot, Adepero Oduye (The Trip to Bountiful) as Iniabasi Ekpeyoung, and Chinasa Ogbuaga as Adiagha Ufot.

SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU will feature scenic design by Jason Sherwood, costume design by Loren Shaw, lighting and video design by Jiyoun Chang, and sound design by Jeremy S. Bloom. Dawn-Elin Fraser (Nat Turner in Jerusalem) will serve as the dialect coach and Janice Paran (Anna in the Tropics) will serve as dramaturg.

In SOJOURNERS, a young, pregnant Abasiama struggles with the responsibilities of her arranged marriage as her husband becomes seduced by 1970s American culture. Intent on finishing her university studies so that she can return to Nigeria, Abasiama weighs her dreams and obligations as she attempts to move forward. Decades later, the full impact of her decision erupts when Abasiama's family is reunited in HER PORTMANTEAU. As Nigerian traditions clash with the realities of American life, Abasiama and her daughters must confront complex familial legacies that span time, geography, language and culture. Presented in two parts, this heartrending pairing probes into the ties that bind mothers and daughters and how we define home.

SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU are produced in association with The Playwrights Realm (Katherine Kovner, Artistic Director Roberta Pereira, Producing Director) who premiered SOJOURNERS last winter in a limited engagement world premiere production.

Tickets for SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU begin at $45 and are on sale now at NYTW.org and by phone at 212-460-5475. Standard ticketing fees apply to all orders.

In order to provide access to those in their surrounding community and those with income limitations, NYTW launched CHEAPTIX, an affordable ticket program. At the first two performances of every NYTW production, tickets will be sold to the general public for just $25. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis, online at NYTW.org or by phone from the NYTW Box Office at 212-460-5475. Standard ticketing fees apply.

Additionally, a $25 day-of ticket rush will be available for young people, seniors, artists and Lower East Side residents. Rush tickets are subject to availability and are sold cash-only, limit two per person. Proper identification is required for all rush tickets. Youth (ages 25 and under) and seniors (ages 65+) may present an ID indicating date-of-birth; Artists may present an ID and a program or union card; Lower East Side residents may present an ID that includes your address.

The performance schedule is structured to allow audience members to see each play on separate days, or to see both in succession on either Saturday or Sundaywith a meal break. The performances schedule for SOJOURNERS is as follows: Tuesday at 7pm, Thursday at 8pm, Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 1pm. The performance schedule for HER PORTMANTEAU is as follows: Wednesday at 7pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 4pm, and Sunday at 7pm. Exceptions: there will be no public performances on Sunday, May 7.

SOJOURNERS and HER PORTMANTEAU will be the final production of the 2016/17 season, following THE OBJECT LESSON by NYTW Usual Suspect Geoff Sobelle (all wear bowlers), directed by NYTW Usual Suspect David Neumann (Restless Eye), and with scenic installation design by Steven Dufala; currently running through Sunday, March 19, 2017. The season began with NAT TURNER IN JERUSALEM, written by NYTW 2050 Fellow Nathan Alan Davis (Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea) and directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian (The Convert) and William Shakespeare's OTHELLO, directed by Tony Award-winner Sam Gold (Fun Home).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Lakisha Michelle May (Moxie). NYTW debut. Off-Broadway: Everybody (Signature Theatre), Sojourners (Playwrights Realm) Regional: Two Trains Running (Arden Theatre Company), The Mountaintop (Playmakers Repertory Company and Triad Stage), In the Red and Brown Water (Marin Theater Company), Spoon Lake Blues (Alliance Theater Company), A Christmas Carol (American Conservatory Theater). Film & TV: Panama Canal Stories,"Boardwalk Empire," "Law & Order: SVU," "Forever" Education: MFA, The American Conservatory Theater. BA, Spelman College. Lakisha also enjoys creating/producing her own work (short films & web content). She also loves to box! Stay tuned @kisha_may on Instagram and Twitter.

Chinasa Ogbuagu (Abasiama Ekpeyoung) is reprising the role of Abasiama in Sojourners, for which she received a 2016 Lortel Award nomination. She can currently be seen in the film From Nowhere (SXSW award winner), and the upcoming films What The Night Can Do, and On Monday of Last Week.Ogbuagu's credits also include recurring roles in The Following and Nurse Jackie. She is repped by Stone Manners Salners.

Hubert Point-Du Jour (Ukpong Ekpeyoung). Some of Hubert's stage work includes Sojourners (The Playwrights Realm), The Model Apartment (Primary Stages), Angels in America (Signature Theatre), A Fable (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), 365 Days/365 Plays (The Public Theater), Nightlands (New Georges), The Tempest (Target Margin), Every Angel Is Brutal (Clubbed Thumb), and the OBIE-winning plays A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (Women's Project/New Georges) and A Map of Virtue (13P). Select regional credits include Imogen Says Nothing (Yale Rep), The Lion in Winter (Two River Theater), Blue Door (Seattle Rep), Romeo and Juliet (The Shakespeare Theater Company), and A Raisin in the Sun (Westport Country Playhouse directed by Phylicia Rashad). Television appearances include "The Path" (Hulu), "Happyish" (Showtime), "The Good Wife" (CBS), "Law and Order: SVU" (NBC), "Over/Under" (USA), and "Black Jack" (Comedy Central pilot). He can be seen in the upcoming films Trouble by Theresa Rebeck and Where is Kyra?. He trained at NYU and is a YoungArts award recipient.

Chinaza Uche (Disciple Ufot) is a New York Based, Nigerian American, Actor/Performer/Writer. He was born in Edinburgh Scotland, and lived in London England, until he immigrated to the US at the age of 14. He has a BFA in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. While at Tisch, he studied at the Experimental Theatre Wing and the Classical Studio. His Film and TV credits include: Ricki and the Flash (Starring Meryl Streep), Mother Of George (Sundance, starring Isaach De Bankole and Danai Gurira), Terry Richardson's Last Hours (Cannes) and episodes on "Golden Boy" (CBS), "Deception" (NBC) and "Blue Bloods" (CBS). In New York he has worked with The Transport Group, Playwright's Realm, LAByrinth Theater Company, La Mama, The National Black Theatre and now New York Theatre Workshop. He has also worked regionally at Seattle Repertory Theatre (Seattle, Washington) and the Everyman Theatre (Baltimore, Maryland). He also hosted wild dance shows with The Dance Cartel, and is a member of The Hartbeat Ensemble and Flux Theatre Ensemble. www.chinazauche.com

Jenny Jules (Abasiama Ufot) Broadway: The Crucible (Walter Kerr Theatre). Off Broadway: Father Comes Home From The Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 (Public Theater), Henry IV (St Ann's Warehouse), Julius Caesar (Donmar Warehouse and St Ann's Warehouse), Ruined (Almeida Theatre and Arena Stage. Winner Critics Circle Best Actress Award), Death and The King's Horseman (National Theatre) and A Raisin In The Sun (Manchester Royal Exchange. Winner M.E.N Theatre Award Best Supporting Actress).

Adepero Oduye (Iniabasi Ekpeyoung) was born in Brooklyn, New York, one of seven children to Nigerian parents. Although she graduated pre-med from Cornell University, Oduye decided to pursue her passion for acting upon graduation. Oduye's breakout role came in 2011 when she starred in Dee Rees' critically acclaimed, award-winning Focus Features release Pariah, for which she received a nomination for Best Female Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards. During her Golden Globe acceptance speech for The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep mentioned some of her favorite performances of the year, highlighting Oduye in Pariah. The following year, Oduye joined an all-star cast (including Alfre Woodard, Phylicia Rashad and Queen Latifah) in the Steel Magnoliastelevision remake as Annelie Dupuy-Desoto, a role originated by Daryl Hannah in the 1998 film. Oduye starred alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor in Steve McQueen's historical drama 12 Years A Slave, winner of the 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture. She also appeared in Ava DuVernay's short film The Door, part of Miu Miu's ad campaign known as The Women's Tales. After several lead roles in regional Theater Productions, including Eclipsed and The Bluest Eye, Oduye made her Broadway debut opposite Cicely Tyson in Horton Foote's The Trip To Bountiful.

New York Theatre Workshop, now in its fourth decade of incubating important new works of theatre, continues to honor its mission to explore perspectives on our collective history and respond to the events and institutions that shape all our lives. Each season, from its home in New York's East Village, NYTW presents four new productions, over 80 readings and numerous workshop productions for over 45,000 audience members. NYTW supports artists in all stages of their careers by maintaining a series of workshop programs, including work-in-progress readings, summer residencies and artist fellowships. Since its founding, NYTW has produced over 100 new, fully staged works, including Jonathan Larson's Rent; Tony Kushner's Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul; Doug Wright's Quills; Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life and Dirty Blonde; Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Valhalla; Martha Clarke's Vienna: Lusthaus; Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, Far Away, A Number and Love and Information; Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's Aftermath; Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová and Enda Walsh's Once; Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher; David Bowie and Enda Walsh's Lazarus; Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown; and seven acclaimed productions directed by Ivo Van Hove. NYTW's productions have received a Pulitzer Prize, seventeen Tony Awards and assorted Obie, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards.

To post a comment, you must register and login.