THE GROVE now onstage at the HUNTINGTON’S CALDERWOOD PAVILION is simply magnificent. Playwright Mfoniso Udofia has given us an extraordinary theatrical gift which exceeds all the demands of the medium. The second in her nine-play UFOT FAMILY CYCLE,  informed by the playwright’s own roots as a first first-generation Nigerian American who grew up in Massachusetts, THE  GROVE is poetry in motion. The play continues to explore the dynamics of a Nigerian family putting down roots in America, while not forgetting who they are or where they come from. Under the masterful direction of Awoye Timpo, the play instantly absorbs us into the dynamics of a close knit family at a crossroads. They are about to embark on an emotional, psychological, and spiritual odyssey toward new frontiers of identity. Every aspect of this production–gripping performances, profoundly expressive language, compelling emotional drama, and a set and lighting designed for revelation– left me weeping with joy.

Abigail C. Onwunali /Photo Marc J. Franklin.

THE GROVE is rooted in “homecoming.” It’s 2009 and Abasiama Ufot’s eldest daughter Adiaha, played by the brilliant and versatile Abigail C. Onwunali (who played the matriarch Abasiama in the cycle’s first play SOJOURNERS) has returned to her parents’ home for the first time in 5 months after graduating with a masters degree in creative writing. Her parents, siblings, and aunts and uncles have all gathered to celebrate. But Adiaha is visibly troubled from the moment we see her onstage. She is stiffly deferential to her intensely religious father “Disciple” (a volcanic Joshua Olumide) and there seems to be some tension with her more clear-eyed mother Abasamia played by Patrice Johnson Chevannes in an exceptionally nuanced performance.

Abigail C. Onwunali and Patrice Johnson Chevannes/Photo Marc J. Franklin

As the celebration begins, the elders make their hopes and dreams for Adiaha known in the rituals and blessings they bestow upon this first- born as she sets out in the world.  But Adiaha has her own ideas about who she is as a woman in this world which fly in the face of traditional Nigerian values. Her younger siblings, brother Ekong (Amani Kojo), and sister Toyoima (Aisha Wura Akorede) are freer and less encumbered by these historic burdens which leads to some spontaneously funny and surprising family interactions. The aunts and uncles hover in the traditional way, with the exception of that one “cool” uncle (Paul-Robert Pryce) who has a more expansive idea about what’s possible in America.

As we watch Adiaha escape to her room and struggle to give voice to what’s troubling her, she is not alone. Forces are gathering around her, and it’s here that the ingenuity of the set (Jason Ardizzone-West) becomes apparent. A group of women in traditional Nigerian dress are glimpsed emerging from the darkness, visible through a forest of tall, silvery, tree-like poles surrounding the stage. These women speak in Ibibio as Adiaha, physically unaware of them, writes.

Abigail C. Onwunali and Valyn Lyric Turner/Photo Marc J. Franklin

Frustrated, Adiaha tosses something she’s written into the waste basket and looks away, when suddenly we notice that piece of paper slowly float up out of the trash and back onto her desk! I almost wasn’t sure I’d seen it –and neither was Adiaha as she looks in disbelief at that paper again in front of her and rereads the words she had just thrown away. It’s a haunting, brilliant piece of business which conjures the liminal space the director and playwright want us and Adiaha to inhabit as she struggles to understand and believe the truth of herself as a writer and a person.In this way, the play also illuminates the role of art itself, as a conduit for and expression of truth. Enter the high-spirited Kim (a vivacious Valyn Lyric Turner) a childhood friend of Adiaha’s and a painter who challenges Adiaha to be herself, catalyzing the play’s momentum.

The cast of THE GROVE/ Photo Marc J. Franklin

The final scene is a thing of beauty, a stunningly choreographed (Adesola Osakalumi) climax of character and drama, poetry and physical movement which finds Adiaha standing center stage in the light of a glorious epiphany, at home in the grove of her family, their outstretched limbs old and new, strengthening her as a woman and an artist in full bloom.

I was stunned by the uplifting power of THE GROVE which Mfoniso Udofia says “holds a special place in my heart as it was the first play I ever wrote.” I can’t wait to experience the rest of what grows from this seed. MUST SEE THE GROVE at The Huntington’s CALDERWOOD Pavilion at the BCA through March 9!