Mfoniso Udofia

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Mfoniso Udofia is a first generation Nigerian-American storyteller, actor, and educator whose work centers on African immigration in the United States. Celebrated and well known work from Udofia include The Ufot Cycle, Season 3 of Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, and Apple Tv's Little America.

Early life and education[]

In the 1970s, Udofia's parents immigrated from Nigeria to Houston, Texas.[1] Udofia's hometown is Southbridge, Massachusetts where she grew up listening to stories of her community that would go on to inspire much of her writing. Udofia completed her undergraduate degree in political science from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 2006.[2] Throughout Udofia's time at Wellesley she attended Broadway productions and performed in plays on campus put on by Ethos, discovering her passion for the stage.[1]

From this discovery, Udofia continued her education, but left behind her education in law and studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), San Francisco. After graduating with her M.F.A in Acting Udofia moved to New York for work as an actress, but was not cast. In frustration, but determination, Udofia began writing plays that center on African Immigrants and her experience growing up as a first-generation African-American.

Work[]

Upon completion of her Masters at A.C.T., Udofia moved to New York City for auditions. Udofia was not able to find work and instead began writing plays. Udofia wrote The Grove which projected her into the nine-play cycle titled The Ufot Cycle.[2] The Ufot Cycle follows a Nigerian immigrant family across generations navigating their lives and identities in America. Six of the nine plays have been produced in theaters across America, including The National Black Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Playwrights Realm, McCarter Theatre, New Dramatist, PCS's JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, New Black Fest, Magic Theater, American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T), New York Theater Workshop, Boston Court, and more.[3]

Udofia's work primarily focuses on the African immigrant experience in the United States. Udofia's plays focus on the African immigrant experience in the United States of defining identity within in a new context, country, and culture. Although The Ufot Cycle is fiction, the plays pull inspiration from Udofia's parents and growing up in immigrant communities.[4] Within Udofia's written work her "biggest missions is to write Africans within America... there are so many African bodies operating and working within America."[5] But also to remind audiences that "Africa is not a country" and to break the monolithic understanding of Africa.[6] Udofia seeks to pose "an expansion of what we think American is."[5]

Udofia also is a producer and writer for Film and Television, she recently performed in Ngozi Anyanwu's off-broadway production The Homecoming Queen.[7]

Themes[]

Udofia moved to New York to audition for roles as an actress, but was told that she was "never African enough" for roles, being told her body was not skinny enough.[2] In response, Udofia began writing. Udofia wrote of the African immigrant stories that she was familiar with to represent and familiarize the audiences with the unique immigrant experience of "having one foot in one world and one foot in another" [8] Staging a reality that many immigrant Americans face, choosing what part of their identities to keep and what needs to be reimagined or sacrificed in their new culture.

Udofia's work centers on women and their relationships with family, spouses, language, and navigating these dual worlds.[9] In Sojourners, the Origin Story of The Ufot Cycle which premiered at The Playwrights Realm, the audience follows Abasiama Ekpeyong as she navigates life in Houston, Texas. Abasiama must reconcile living life as her family expects and life that America calls of her, all while discovering what she wants as an individual.[3]

Family and generational differences appear throughout much of her work, in Her Portmanteau we see a Mother, Abasiama and her two daughters attempting to reconcile with their different navigations of legacy.[3] In runboyrun, which premiered at the New York Theater Workshop, the story follows of how acts of survival are passed down through generations of a family lineage.[10] There are three untitled plays left in The Ufot Cycle that are still being developed and written by Udofia.

In her full-length plays outside of The Ufot Cycle, the themes of immigration, identity, and relationships are still prevalent. In her hip-hop children's play Lilyvine, we see two groups battle for territory as they navigate immigration and survival.[3]

Film and television[]

Udofia appears in Luce (2019), as West African Woman and in Fred Won't Move Out (2012), as Victoria.[11] She is a producer and writer for Apple Tv's Little America (2020), which centers the life of immigrant Americans.[11] Udofia was also a writer for the third season of Netflix's Thirteen Reasons Why (2019).

Plays[]

The Ufot Cycle[]

  • Sojourners
  • The Grove
  • runboyrun
  • Her Portmanteau
  • In Old Age
  • Adia and Clora Snatch Joy

Full-length plays[]

  • Firstclass
  • Lockdown
  • Lilyvine

10-minute plays[]

  • Sherman...ablackcomedy
  • Hunger
  • Walking Out
  • Return Home
  • The Lonely Heart Club
  • insideOUTSIDE
  • Birthday Pigeons in a Morningside Paradise

Awards and honors[]

  • 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award
  • 2017–2018 McKnight National Residency
  • 2017–2018 The Playwright Center Commission
  • 2023 New Dramatist Class

Current Commissions[]

  • American Conservatory Theatre
  • Hartford Stage
  • Denver Center
  • Roundhouse
  • South Coast Repertory

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Playwright Mfoniso Udofia '06 Reflects on Failing Forward". Wellesley College. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  2. ^ a b c "Wellesley College". Wellesley College. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  3. ^ a b c d "Home". Mfoniso Udofia. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  4. ^ Clement, Olivia (2017-05-02). "Meet the Playwright Putting the Spotlight on African Immigrants". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  5. ^ a b "People to Watch. (diana Garle, Emily Shooltz, Isabel Curley-Clay, Moriah Curley-Clay, Mfoniso Udofia, Nakissa Etemad, and Yuri Ornov)". Gale Literature Resource Center. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  6. ^ Tran, Diep (2017-05-31). "Nine Plays, One Truth: Mfoniso Udofia on Her Immigrant Experience, and Ours (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  7. ^ "Mfoniso Udofia". www.wellesley.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  8. ^ "Review: "Her Portmanteau" at Boston Court Pasadena". ColoradoBoulevard.net. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  9. ^ Berson, Misha (May–June 2018). "Children of the Journey: So much American Theatre From O'Neill to Udofia, has been inspired by the stories of Playwrights' Immigrant Parents". American Theatre. 35: 36.
  10. ^ Nachman, Rebekah (Spring 2020). "The Dead Have Arrived" (PDF). Muhlenberg Academic Review. 3: 51–59 – via [PDF] bergbuilds.domains.
  11. ^ a b "Mfoniso Udofia". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
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