Rehearsals Begin For HER PORTMANTEAU By Mfoniso Udofiam At George Street Playhouse, Beginning October 11

George Street Playhouse will welcome back audiences to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center and announces casting for the upcoming production of Her Portmanteau a new play by Mfoniso Udofia, directed by Laiona Michelle. Performances begin October 11th, 2022 through October 30th.

Says Laiona Michelle, "What excites me most about directing this play is the heart and the hope. We experience the heartbreaking choices an immigrant family makes to forge ahead when weighed down with so much baggage. Their reliance on figuring out how to save each other is a testament to humanity."

Her Portmanteau by playwright Mfoniso Udofia will be directed by George Street Playhouse's Artistic Associate Laiona Michelle (Little Girl Blue, Book of Mormon). Mfoniso Udofia's moving work, which The New York Times called "extraordinary," touches on universal themes of mother-daughter relationships, forgiveness, reconciliation, and the struggle associated with leaving our countries of origin behind, while still holding on to its rich cultural heritage. The cast includes Jennean Farmer (Off Broadway/Public Theater: Cullud Wattah, Ain't No Mo' ), Shannon Harris (NBC: The Blacklist), and Mattilyn Kravitz (NBC: Law and Order SVU, HBO: Boardwalk Empire).

The design and Production Team includes: Laiona Michelle - Director; Gregory J. Horton - Costume Designer; Karen Graybash - Sound Designer; Inza Bamba, Composer, Ebbe Bassey, Language Consultant; Maggie Surrovell, Dialect Coach; Samantha Flint - Production Stage Manager.

Her Portmanteau will begin performances October 11 and continue through October 30. Tickets are now on sale. The Box office is open for phone sales at 732-246-7717. Subscribers save 20% or more on full-season packages and discounts are also available for groups of 10 or more.

Mfoniso Udofia's (Playwright) plays, Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau, and In Old Age have been seen at the American Conservatory Theater [A.C.T.], New York Theatre Workshop [NYTW], The Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. She's the recipient of the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights' Center and is a member of the New Dramatists class of 2023. Mfoniso is currently commissioned by A.C.T., Hartford Stage, Denver Center, A.C.T., Roundhouse, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, A.C.T., NYTW, The Playwrights Realm, McCarter Theatre, OSF, New Dramatists, PCS's JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, The OCC, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Page 73, New Black Fest, Rising Circle and more.Ms. Udofia has worked as a television writer on the third season of Netflix's 13 Reasons Why and the first seasons of both Apple TV's Little America and Pachinko. She's also working on Amazon's A League of Their Own. As an actress, she recently appeared off-Broadway in Ngozi Anyanwu's, The Homecoming Queen. She's also appeared in the feature film, Fred Won't Move Out.

Laiona Michelle (Director) is proud to add director to her resume with this production. Her double bill as writer and star of the critical and box-office smash, Little Girl Blue, which launched its world premiere engagement at the George Street Playhouse on Feb 1, 2019 was followed by a critically acclaimed Off- Broadway run in 2022. Laiona Michelle made her Broadway debut in 2015, in the musical, Amazing Grace, which opened at the Nederlander. A 2022 Lily award recipient, she has been nominated for numerous awards including the Independent Reviewers of New England, Best Lead Actress award (2001, Stonewall Jackson's House); and she is the recipient of the Barrymore and Carbonell Awards (2004, Constant Star); The NAACP Hollywood award (2005, Constant Star), and she was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award (2005, Yellowman). Television: Lift, All My Children, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Blacklist, and Crashing, as well as Amazon's Sneaky Pete.

Jennean Farmer, NYC Theater: Cullud Wattah, Ain't No Mo' (The Public Theater), Toni Stone (Roundabout Theatre). Regional: Mlima's Tale (Westport Country Playhouse). Film: The Secret Art of Human Flight (co-star), A Thousand and One (co-star), The Good Nurse (co-star), How the Light Gets In (co-star). TV: "Dead Ringers" (recurring), "That Damn Michael Che" (co-star), "New Amsterdam" (co-star), "FBI" (co-star). MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama. Ms. Farmer is a US Army Veteran.

Shannon Harris, an actor and award-winning filmmaker, wrote, produced, directed, and played lead roles in short films THREE birds and grist, which won Best Narrative and Best Actor at Mott Haven Film Festival 2021. Other screen credits include The Blacklist, Happy!, Ray Donovan, and Marvel's Luke Cage. Stage credits range from lady in red in for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf in LA to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)in the Hamptons. Training: Barnard College (BA, English), AADA-LA, The Royal CSSD (MA, Classical Acting - Distinction). TheShannonHarris.com IG: @shannon_harrisig

Mattilyn Kravitz, Most recently Mattilyn appeared on the NBPAC stage in Crossroads Theater's Freedom Rider. Her many theatre credits include several acclaimed solo shows. Her stage work has been nominated for the Philadelphia Barrymore Award, the Otto Haas Emerging Artist Award, and the NAACP Theatre Award. Mattilyn's latest solo show is The Long Goodbye, which details how caring for her Alzheimer's-stricken mother helped heal their fractured relationship makes its Edinburgh Fringe premiere in 2022. TV credits include Black Mafia Family, Law and Order: SVU and Boardwalk Empire. Mattilyn is a proud member of AKA, Inc and The Links, Inc.

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