The Ufot Family Cycle turns toward a younger generation in ‘Kufre N' Quay'

Boston Globe

24-07-2025

Directed by John ADEkoje, 'Kufre N' Quay' is the fifth drama in Mfoniso Udofia's nine-play Ufot Family Cycle, which chronicles the experiences of three generations of a Nigerian-American family over a period of decades.
As with August Wilson's 'Century Cycle,' which explored the Black experience through the prism of a drama for each decade of the 20th century, what makes Udofia's plays work is that they're grounded in a specificity of character while also encompassing major sociological movements.
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The playwright is nothing if not ambitious, and in 'Kufre N' Quay,' she fuses a coming-of-age story with a strangers-in-a-strange-land narrative, while also delving into issues of racial identity (Udofia calls it 'the most overt race-play in the cycle') and belonging.
In an initiative spearheaded by The Huntington and its artistic director, Loretta Greco, dozens of Boston-area arts organizations have committed to staging the plays in the Ufot Family Cycle. Previous productions have included
But 'Kufre N' Quay' does not reach the level of those four earlier plays.
The action begins in the summer of 2018 and moves back and forth from the Inwood section of Manhattan to Harlem to —
in Kufre's mind, at least
—
Lagos, Nigeria.
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A glowing glass model of the solar system given to him by his grandmother ignites Kufre's vivid imagination, allowing the universe to periodically open up to him. Projection designer Justin Lahue and lighting designer Karen Perlow have done stellar work in evoking the cosmos.
Act One is unwieldy; it feels both overstuffed and underdeveloped as the kids at the youth center treat Kufre with derision while counselor Miss Ey Yo Miss (Jalyse Ware) tries to persuade them to accept the newcomer.
The play begins to round into form in Act Two, which foregrounds the estimable Ramona Lisa Alexander as Iniabasi Ekpeyong, Kufre's fiercely protective mother, and Jackie Davis as Abasiama Ufot, his even more formidable grandmother.
This is the first professional production by the Boston Arts Academy, which has teamed up with Wheelock Family Theatre. A dozen academy students are in the cast. Unsurprisingly, with such a youthful ensemble, the levels of acting ability vary widely.
One clear standout is Ngolela Kamanampata, who transitions skillfully through multiple moods as 13-year-old Laquasha 'Quay' Price. Quay is Kufre's first ally at the youth center, until he alienates her by saying, clumsily, that she is good enough to live in Nigeria while none of the other Black kids are. 'You are one of the better ones,' he says, intending it as praise. She is rightly incensed. Eventually, he is rightly repentant.
In the aforementioned program note, Udofia writes that she focuses on young people in the play 'so we can see how early the othering starts. How deep it cuts. And maybe — because it's youth at the center — how possible it is to change.'
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KUFRE N' QUAY
Play by Mfoniso Udofia. Directed by John ADEkoje. Presented by Boston Arts Academy and Wheelock Family Theatre. At Boston Arts Academy. Through July 26. Tickets $21.40 to $41.80. 617-635-6470,
Don Aucoin can be reached at