Wellesley Rep offered in-process presentations of
Lifted by Mfoniso Udofia
March 2026
Open Rehearsals at the Footlight Club, Jamaica Plain
Presentations at the Maso Studio in Boston and Wellesley College
WRT is thrilled to have taken part in a groundbreaking Boston-wide collaboration between the Huntington and multiple arts and community organizations to present Wellesley graduate Mfoniso Udofia's entire 9-play Ufot Family Cycle.
Lifted
By Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Josiah Davis
Music Supervision & Arrangements by Brandon Michael Nase
Wellesley Repertory Theatre offered in-process presentations of the 7th play of the Ufot Family Cycle, Lifted, at several Boston-area spaces in March 2026. Audiences experienced creativity in action at unique ‘text-in-hand’ presentations that informed and supported Udofia’s ongoing writing of this work-in-process.
Presentations were held at the Footlight Club, the Huntington Theatre’s Maso Studio, and Wellesley College campus.
Lifted Boston Buzz
“Immigrant Stories on Boston Stages: Inside the Ufot Family Cycle”
Listen to the Scene in Boston podcast episode about Lifted and the Ufot Cycle
“Latest Ufot Family Cycle play ‘Lifted’ asks: Who owns knowledge?”
Read and Listen to WGBH’s Under the Radar with Callie Crossley: Mfoniso Udofia, and cast members Paul Pryce and Natalie D. Jacobs discuss the process.
“I fell under the spell of this captivating play”
Read cultural blogger Paul Fallon’s reflection on the “unique” and “exciting” experience of witnessing Lifted as an in-process presentation.
“'Lifted' explores plagiarism, family inheritance and healing”
WBUR Arts and Culture journalist Shira Laucharoen features Lifted in a conversation with director Josiah Davis, actor Natalie D. Jacobs and playwright Mfoniso Udofia. Read here!
Theater Mirror’s Kilian Melloy Interviews The Huntington’s Lois Roach, Dramaturg for ‘Lifted’ the 7th play of the Ufot Family Cycle
Read the interview.
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
@Annielly Camargo
Cast
Dr. Toyoima Ufot (Front-Facing)
Dr. Toyoima Ufot (Innocent)
Dr. Toyoima Ufot (Wrath)
Adiaha Ufot
Abasiama Ufot
Dr. Anthony Umanah/CPS Chair
Iniabasi Ekpeyoung
Natalie Jacobs*
Joaquina Kalukango*
Denise Manning*
Lorraine Victoria Kanyike*
Chavez Ravine*
Paul Pryce*
Aneisa Hicks*
Creative Team
Playwright
Director
Music Supervision & Arrangements
Stage Manager
Dramaturg
Vocal & Dialect Coach
Language Consultant
Mfoniso Udofia
Josiah Davis
Brandon Michael Nase
Em K. Ross*
Lois Roach
Bridgett Jackson
Emmanuel Sylvester
Company
Artistic Director
Company Manager
Production Assistants
Marta Rainer
Sarah Vandewalle
Cassandre Cyriaque
Penny Davis
About the Ufot Cycle
What would it mean to activate an entire city with a diaspora story, a story of who we are that unfolds in 9 parts, from neighborhood to neighborhood, over 24 months?
When nationally acclaimed playwright Mfoniso Udofia grew up in Southbridge, Massachusetts and went to Wellesley College, she rarely saw stories about Africans and African Americans that felt true to her own family. Inspired in part by August Wilson’s Century Cycle, she set out to create an emotionally engrossing cycle of nine plays that follows one Nigerian American family through three generations: parents, children, grandchildren. Each play stands alone brilliantly, yet together form a stunning tapestry that will resonate with everyone.
The Ufot Family Cycle is an unprecedented two-year city-wide festival where theatres and arts organizations around Greater Boston will join to produce Mfoniso Udofia’s cycle of plays in partnership with universities, social organizations, non-profits, and a host of community activation partners.
“I’m writing these plays for myself, for my immediate family, for my extended family, for the Ibibio community. I’m writing us – so we can see us.”
— Mfoniso Udofia
About Mfoniso
Wellesley College Class of 2006
Mfoniso Udofia’s plays Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau, and In Old Age have been seen at The Magic, New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. She’s the recipient of the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights’ Center, and is a member of the New Dramatists class of 2023. Mfoniso is commissioned by ACT, Hartford Stage, Denver Center, Roundhouse, and South Coast Repertory. In 2024, she was the recipient of the Steinberg Playwright Award.
Mfoniso has worked as a television writer on the third season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and the first season of Pachinko. She is a producer and writer on Little America, A League of Their Own, and Let the Right One In. As an actress, she appeared off-Broadway in Ngozi Anyanwu’s The Homecoming Queen.
Ufot Family Cycle Press
Check out articles about the Cycle by clicking below!
Wellesley Magazine:
“Processing in Play”
American Theatre:
“And Then There Were 9: Boston Embraces the Ufot Cycle”
Boston Common:
“Mfoniso Udofia's "Ufot Family Cycle" Plays Come to Boston”