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Boston Globe

Boston Arts Academy steps in to help craft the next Ufot Cycle play: ‘Kufre n' Quay'

Before a recent rehearsal, Mngomezulu says that coming to America has been a 'culture shock' for his character. Seated next to him, castmate Kamanampata explains that 'confusion and hurt and conflict can come when someone expects something of a culture that they've only seen caricatures and stereotypes of.' Kufre comes from a country, Udofia points out, where everyone is largely of the same race. 'We're seeing the story through the eyes of a child who does not know he is Black until he gets to this country,' she says. 'He's meeting America for the first time at this age without any vocabulary for Blackness. … So what does that mean to suddenly hold that word?' Advertisement The show marks the first professional theater production ever for (who lives in Newton).'The youth, they're like lights,' Udofia says. 'They bring me so much joy.' The Huntington aimed for this to be a citywide festival celebrating Udofia, who grew up in Southbridge near Worcester, with multiple theaters and cultural organizations taking part. So when Charles Haugland, the Huntington's director of new work, called Boston Arts Academy artistic director Maura Tighe more than a year ago and suggested that there could be roles for students in one of the plays, Tighe leapt at the chance to boost their involvement. 'I said, 'Why not let us do it?'' Tighe recalls, standing in the BAA theater's mezzanine. The Huntington loved the idea, and BAA partnered with the Wheelock Family Theatre to produce this installment. 'Our mission is to connect the students to the community and help them see the way to what's next for them in their artistic domain, to see themselves as professionals,' Tighe says. 'I've been looking for the right theater connection, and this just blossomed.' Advertisement The first play in the Ufot Cycle, Udofia, a Wellesley College graduate, was inspired to set the play at a youth center, because she worked for years as an educator and teaching artist. 'It's really in my bones,' she says. 'And I thought there's no better way to have Kufre feel out America than to land him in one of these summer programs that I am so familiar with in New York City.' She was able to draw from her own experiences and insights from spending time around young people. 'There's just a way they talk when they think you're not listening that I find fascinating. It is colorful, it is fast and sharp. It can be so sweet, one second. Cruel, the next. Language making is happening all the time.' Advertisement Director John Oluwole ADEkoje watches cast members rehearse a scene of "Kufre n' Quay." Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff At the youth center, there are two main cliques — one a group of kids who live in the Little Senegal enclave (most of whom speak French); and then a clique of Black American kids largely from Harlem and the Bronx. 'There's conflict because these people are all defining their identities very differently,' says director John Oluwole ADEkoje, who's Nigerian-American. 'And it's being read like each group feels like they're better than the other.' At first, Kufre is rejected by both cliques. So he goes off on his own and daydreams, and it's quickly apparent that he has formidable powers of imagination. 'He closes his eyes, stretches his arms, and imagines a place he wants to go and what he wants to happen, and then he just goes there,' Mngomezulu says. Levi Mngomezulu rehearses a scene of "Kufre n' Quay" at Boston Arts Academy. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff Iniabasi (Ramona Lisa Alexander) arrives with her own set of prejudices, and when she finds out the other kids are bullying Kufre, she explodes. The dedicated Harlem Zone educator Ms. Jada, a.k.a. 'Ms. Ey Yo Miss' (Jalyse Ware), tries to help Kufre integrate into this new world while keeping the peace between the different cliques and teaching improv theater games. But it's Abasiama (Jackie Davis) who's best equipped to help her grandson navigate the tensions and strife. Having raised three children in Massachusetts, Abasiama has 'learned a little bit about the cultural biases that maybe she had initially,' Davis says. 'She understands both sides of the fence culturally, so she sees the mistakes that Kufre is making fresh from the continent. She's trying to be the person to ease him into this new society and not create harm as he's being harmed, but also getting him to understand how his interaction could have led to this misunderstanding.' Advertisement A BAA faculty member, playwright, and filmmaker, ADEkoje says that rehearsing with young people is 'a dance between being a professional director and being a teacher. You're guiding them through the process.' He did 'table work' — reading and discussing the play and breaking it down as a group — for longer than usual, before starting to block out scenes. 'I didn't want anybody getting up on their feet without understanding exactly who their characters are and what they want,' he says. Ultimately, Tighe says, 'This is a story about a boy who dreams, and he dreams so vividly, that things come to life on stage, and he's going to take all the other kids with him. He believes in this world where everybody's the same, and that's how they come to understand each other — through his dreams.' As they work to bring to life this unprecedented endeavor, Udofia is savoring every moment. 'This is a rehearsal process where I walk in happy, I walk out happy,' she says. 'These kids are bringing everything that they can and soaking it all up like a sponge. Watching them is my favorite thing.' KUFRE N' QUAY By Mfoniso Udofia, presented by the Boston Arts Academy and Wheelock Family Theatre. At Boston Arts Academy Main Stage Theatre, July 10-26. Tickets from $22. 617-635-6470;