Her Portmanteau

This is Part II (actually we skip a few of her plays to #4) of Mfoniso Udofia's The Ufot Cycle - Her Portmanteau.   On a creative note - the title is a word that means both a large suitcase (such as one that both a mother and daughter may have traveled to America with) - AND even more interestingly - a word that means the combination of two other words such as brunch (breakfast and lunch) or podcast (iPod and broadcast).  Very creatively both are relevant here because this is a story of two families who will come together from very different sets of circumstances and that piece of luggage you see will be very meaningful too.

We've skipped a few years ahead. Abasiama (now Jenny Jules) has married Disciple and started another family in America.  The baby, Iniabasi Ekpeyoung (Adepero Oduye), she gave to Ukpong to raise back in Nigeria (because he had to leave America when he messed up his education) is now an adult and wants to come to America to see her mother and the rest of her family.  Abasiama arranges a meeting in New York City at her American daughter's, Adiagha Ufot (now Chinasa Ogbuagu's) apartment.  Everyone is on pins and needles.  Sparks are quickly extinguished when they start to fly, tensions are high and years of unspoken words come pouring out from all parties.

This play is much more intense, direct, and shorter than the first and even as short as it was there are two scenes that are needlessly long and drawn out.  This one could be approximately 85-90 minutes max and could really pack a punch.  I think the creatives love their words and drama a bit too much and need to trim things down for a focused, powerful, and punch-to-the-gut two part series.  

Sojourners

NYTW has chosen a multi-part play by Mfoniso Udofia as its final installment of the season.  After much debate we decided to see the "marathon" presentation on a Sunday - the two parts played in sequence 1-3pm and 5-7pm.  We figured, in the end, the stories are related so why not just blow an afternoon and get it over with.  Seeing them apart we might forget small details. So off we went for a day at NYTW.   What a great decision this turned out to be.

Part I - Sojourners - is your introduction to Abasiama Ekpeyoung (Chinasa Ogbuagu) and Ukpong Ekpeyoung (Hubert Point-Du-Jour) and their immediate life post immigration from Nigeria to the USA - Houston, Texas, to be precise.  It's a tough time, adjusting is hard, working for low wages and long hours is tough - and Abasiama is pregnant - very pregnant.  They have goals - get a great education (the reason for immigration) and start their family and eventually return home.   As with all of the best laid plans - things don't always go the way you intend.  Some rather tough decisions need to be made.

We are also introduced to a character that is much more pivotal to the second play (the actual 4th play in the series) - Disciple Ufot (Chinaza Uche) and a rather sad character named Moxie Wilis (Lakisha Michelle May).  As a side comment - this play is the first of SEVEN and NYTW is only presenting two of them - I wondered if Moxie is explored in any of the other plays?  Upon some further research, only time will tell, as plays 6-9 are not yet completed but I think time will pass her over as the plays seem to be written sequentially.

Performances are top notch.  Mr. Point-Du-Jour is charming and lovable despite his shortcomings and you can just see how anyone could want to start a life with him (their marriage was arranged).  Ms. Ogbuagu was magnificent in her portrayal of Abasiama - strong, touching, and human.

My only complaint is that there was not enough exposition as to whom these characters were.  We went almost 75 minutes without ever being told who the man at his desk was (Disciple) and how he fit into the story.  Perhaps one mysterious scene is theatrically effective but repeated scenes with a man who has no connection to the story is a bit much.  This happened a few times throughout the first play in other areas and it was quite noticeable that you had to figure out (i.e. GUESS) a few of the circumstances rather than be sure through dialogue or story what exactly was going on.  Thankfully things cleared up by the end but a few frustrated audience members left at the intermission.

The Qualms

From a master of dialogue and interesting, quirky, provocative topics, Bruce Norris has shared a slightly uncomfortable, marvelously funny, and touching story that delves into the lives of swingers!  Yes, you read that correctly - Swingers!

The cast of couples is superbly unique, extremely diverse, and wonderfully talented.  The story centers around newcomers to the swingers group - upscale couple Jeremy Shamos (Chris) and Sarah Goldberg (Kristy).  The group starts out with the host couple - the mature John Procaccino (Gary) and younger and ditzy Kate Arrington (Teri) and grows more eclectic with each completely different couple that arrives - heavyset firecracker Donna Lynne Champlin (Deb) and hunky handsome, likely gay Andy Lucien (Ken) and exotic Chinasa Ogbuagu (Regine) and white bread American-as-can-be Noah Emmerrich (Roger).   What a wild mix and what a wild ride they are in for.

Ruminating on faith, love, commitment, religion, and everything related to the meaning of life itself, this group of swingers go on one wild ride this evening.  The audience is along for the ride the entire time - but I must say that the play slowed to an unbearable crawl about 2/3rd of the way through as if Mr. Norris just couldn't wrap it up cleanly enough.  The penultimate scene pertaining to statistics in a large metropolitan city should really have ended the play so cleverly but he needed a comforting reconciliation scene around the gun they brought out in Act I - the banana pudding.

And finally, I love a play that features what is likely to be a new actor - in this case he doesn't even have any lines - but the expression on his face was worth 1000!  Kudos to Julian Leong (Delivery Boy). And Kudos to writing such roles into plays to let everyone get their start!