“Her Portmanteau” by Mfoniso Udofia. Directed by Tasia A. Jones. Co-produced by Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective, , 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through April 20th.
By Michele Markarian
I was hesitant about seeing this piece, the fourth in a series of nine under the umbrella of the Ufot Family Cycle by Mfoniso Udofia, as I hadn’t seen the other plays, and its length – an hour and forty-five minutes without an intermission – was off-putting. From the very beginning, when Jade A. Guerra, as Iniabasi Ekpeyong walks onto the stage with a suitcase and an air of wariness, I was completely sucked in. An hour and forty-five minutes never went by so quickly, as the rest of the audience and I were pulled into one of the more compelling, well-written, and well-acted family dramas this season.
Iniabasi (Guerra) has just landed in New York City from Nigeria, rerouted from where she thought she was going to land in Massachusetts. She is expecting her estranged mother, Abasiama Ufot (Patrice Jean Baptiste) to pick her up; instead, she finds herself in the company of her cheery half-sister, Adiaha Ufot (Lorraine Victoria Kanyike). Adiaha takes her home to her one-bedroom apartment in the city (beautifully rendered by Shelley Barish’s realistic set design), much to Iniabasi’s horror, as she was anticipating being taken to the family homestead in Massachusetts. Iniabasi is chilly, distant, not speaking, much to Adiaha’s dismay. When Abasiama shows up, a few hours late, Adiaha warns her, “She is a little different, though. Intense”. Adiaha has gone to great lengths to make her sister feel at home, even going so far as to make fufu, a traditional dish, which Iniabasi scornfully refuses to eat, as it’s partially made with Jiffy mix. Iniabasi only softens when there is mention of her six-year-old son, Kufre, who is back in Nigeria but expected to join her soon.
Why is Iniabasi so suspicious? Abasiama, it turns out, decided to stay in the United States thirty-six years ago, allowing her ex-husband to take their infant daughter, Iniabasi, back to Nigeria to be raised by him. Iniabasi’s coldness cannot, ultimately, mask her hurt and anger as she confronts her mother, as well as her half-sister, whom she feels doesn’t respect her or the history of their relationship. When Adiaha dismisses a cherished memory of Iniabasi’s of the first time Adiaha visited in Nigeria, saying she was too young at eight to remember, Iniabasi cries back, “Remembrance is not a mask of youth. Remembrance is a mask of importance.” Cold and closed off as she is, our sympathies are with Iniabasi. As she looks at the photos on Adiaha’s wall, exclaiming over the pictures of her other half-sister and brother, she confronts Adiaha with the fact that there are no pictures of her, the eldest, on the photo wall. Iniabisi believes that her US family has been living the high life, one that she and her son have been excluded from. For all of her friendly demeanor, Adiaha has her own set of boundaries, and resents it when Iniabisi insists that she is indeed the eldest. Abasiama has her own wall that needs to be broken down; with a second marriage and family, she seems to have denied her past to procure her future.
Udofia skillfully lets the hurts and revelations unravel slowly, carefully, well driven by Jones’s excellent pacing. Guerra is magnificent as Iniabisi, letting glimpses of hurt and vulnerability steal through her proud demeanor. Kanyike capably reveals that underneath the friendly persona, Adiaha is no-nonsense and distinctly American; where Iniabisi and Adiaha hide their feelings, Adiaha insists on telling the truth. The superb Jean-Baptiste somehow manages to earn our sympathy, despite being a mother who lets her baby grow away from her in another country. Udofia punctuates the drama with wry and funny lines that all three actors deliver well. That said, my friend and I were teary at the play’s finish, so moving were the performances. Afterwards, in line at the theater’s bathroom, we strangers all talked about what a terrific show we’d just witnessed. It’s something everybody should witness, but hurry. The show closes soon. For tickets and information, go to:https://www.centralsquaretheater.org/
