Wellesley Rep joins
Boston’s Ufot Cycle
Celebrating the work of Wellesley College grad Mfoniso Udofia (‘06)
WRT is thrilled to be taking part in a groundbreaking Boston-wide collaboration between the Huntington Theatre and multiple arts and community organizations to produce Wellesley graduate Mfoniso Udofia's entire 9-play Ufot Family Cycle.
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.
WRT to produce Play 7: Lifted
In collaboration with Arrow Street Theatre and other Boston-Area collaborators, Wellesley Repertory Theatre will produce the 7th play of the Ufot Family Cycle, Lifted. It promises to be a compelling exploration on the global conceptions of academic freedom. This production, as well as corresponding workshops and events at Wellesley College, will take place in Spring 2026.
Ufot Cycle News
Check out press and news 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”