Mfoniso Udofia

Mfoniso Udofia

Udofia is a 1st Generation Nigerian-American storyteller, actress and educator. Her writing has been developed and/or produced/presented by the New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Playwrights Realm, Magic Theatre, The American Conservatory Theater, Boston Court Performing Arts Center, The National Black Theatre, Hartford Center Stage, The Denver Center, The McCarter Theatre, The Oregon...
Udofia is a 1st Generation Nigerian-American storyteller, actress and educator. Her writing has been developed and/or produced/presented by the New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Playwrights Realm, Magic Theatre, The American Conservatory Theater, Boston Court Performing Arts Center, The National Black Theatre, Hartford Center Stage, The Denver Center, The McCarter Theatre, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, Roundhouse, The Playwrights Foundation, New Dramatists, PCS’s JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, The OCC, The Hermitage, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Makehouse, Soul Productions, terraNOVA Collective, Page 73 Development Programs, The New Black Fest, Rising Circle's INKTank, At Hand Theatre Company, The Standard Collective, Liberation Theatre Company and JCCEO Birmingham Youth Programs. She has acted in off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater’s Second stage, off-off Broadway at APAC and regionally at the American Conservatory Theater. She has also starred in feature films, Fred Won’t Move Out and Luce. She has also taught kindergarten-collegiate level drama and currently works as a professor of Global Drama at The New School College for Drama. Follow her on social media [twitter/instagram] at @mfudofia and check out her site www.mfonisoudofia.com for the latest news.

Plays

  • Sojourners
    ::duty and desire::
    Abasiama came to America with high hopes - for her arranged marriage and her future - intent on earning a degree and returning to Nigeria. But when her husband is seduced by America, she must choose between the Nigerian or American Dream.
  • The Grove
    ::courage and cowardice::
    Adiagha Ufot, first generation offspring and eldest daughter of a transplanted Nigerian family, is both conduit of her rich culture and fulfiller of the legacy of the American dream. Adiagha struggles to balance as her Nigerian history and her American present collide and combust.
  • runboyrun
    ::civil war::
    Married couple, Disciple and Abasiama Ufot, have been living the exact same day over and over again for many decades. A sudden burst of frustration breaks their pattern and time suddenly rushes forward while also reeling backwards; forcing Disciple and Abasiama to finally navigate the treacherous waters of illness, memory and love. The survival of this 30+ year marriage depends on building...
    ::civil war::
    Married couple, Disciple and Abasiama Ufot, have been living the exact same day over and over again for many decades. A sudden burst of frustration breaks their pattern and time suddenly rushes forward while also reeling backwards; forcing Disciple and Abasiama to finally navigate the treacherous waters of illness, memory and love. The survival of this 30+ year marriage depends on building new vocabularies and daring, once again, to live moment by moment.
  • Her Portmanteau
    ::legacy and forgivness::
    Abasiama Ufot must forge new households and pass down her inheritance. Trapped within a small apartment, Abasiama confronts her daughters and opens long closed vaults, trying to build the bridge across two very different worlds.
  • In Old Age
    ::purge and passing::

    Abasiama Ufot and an elder man, Azell Abernarthy, make an unlikely spiritual connection. Abasiama learns the true nature of love just as life takes a new turn.
  • Adia and Clora Snatch Joy
    ::kismet::
    In the wake of her mother’s death, Adiaha Ufot travels to Wilmington, NC in search of the man who knew her mother last. Instead of Azell, Adia finds Clora – and a house that looks strangely familiar. Together Adia and Clora reconcile their pasts and imagine new ways forward.

    *This is a romance
  • Birthday Pigeons in a Morningside Paradise
    Shireen and Dale are desperately trying to figure out the best way to parent their overgrown toddler when suddenly a pigeon flies into their window. Nature has the last say in this child-rearing comedy.
  • hunger
    A modern take on Leroi Jones', Dutchman. Poppy, Tyrell and Prentice take each other for an emotional spin as they fight to discover what and who makes up a "real" woman.
  • insideOUTSIDE
    A couple explodes on the streets of Newark, NJ as a young man's desire to simply walk home in the middle of the night triggers abject fear in his girlfriend.
  • The Lonely Hearts Club
    3 strangers meet to grieve the death of their most important relationships and all 3 discover along the way that public grief can help the healing begin.
  • Return Home
    Fatima, a Somalian living in America, decides to accept a marriage proposal, to the shock and consternation of her American friend, Deidre.
  • Sherman: A Black Comedy
    An interacial couple, Regis and Coral, from Huntsville, AL, contest the racial politics of the day after they receive an old mule named Sherman (a deathbed gift from Regis' late mother).
  • Walking Out
    A young interracial couple must decide what to do when finances are strained, the workplace is hostile and kindness/honesty seem to be in short order.
  • A Birthday Homily
    Little Ella June overcomes the worst case of nerves to deliver a profound celebratory message at her church's Juneteenth celebration service.
  • Idara
    Idara, a Nigerian-American woman, finally musters the courage to choose love, despite daunting pressure.
  • Kukere
    A mother wakes up in 19th century Nigeria to discover her daughter has disappeared, never to be seen again, into the bush.