the grove the huntington theater | written by mfoniso udofia; directed by awoye timpo; scenic design by jason ardizzone-west; costume design by sarita fellows; lighting design by reza behjat; sound design and original music by rob milburn & michael bodeen; hair/wig/makeup design by earon chew nealey; choreography by adesola osakalumi; voice and dialect coach: dawn-elin fraser; dramaturg: donnetta lavinia grays and charles haugland; casting: janet foster; production stage manager: emily f mcmullen; stage managers: lauren j burke and leslie sears; associate set designer: baron pugh; assistant set designer: sean sanford, nicolas hen, mehula singh, laura valenti; director of production: bethany ford; associate director of production: miguel flores; technical director: todd burgun; props director: kristine holmes; assistant props director: justin seward; charge scenic artist: kristin krause

actors: abigail c onwunali, aisha wura akorede, patrice johnson chevannes, amani kojo, joshua olumide, paul-robert pryce, maduka steady, valyn lryic turner, ekemini ekpo, janelle grace, patrice jean-baptiste, chibuba bloom osuala, dayenne walters

photographs by: baron pugh & jason ardizzone-west

reviews

the boston globe
”aided by her design team, timpo constructs an atmosphere that amounts to a kind of visual poetry, lending the play the quality of myth.”
-don aucoin [full review]

the tufts daily
”scenic designer jason ardizzone-west’s rotating sets household mundanity against a forest of silver bars, which shimmer not unlike mirrors. the silver bars give the stage — and the story, by extension — a refractive quality. “the grove” is grounded by this prison but, at the same time, is liberated by it. the ufot family inhabits a space where the real and the abstract are permitted physical interaction.”
-spring larose [full review]

joyces choices
”the grove now onstage at the huntington’s calderwood pavilion is simply magnificent… 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… 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..”
-joyce kulhawik [full review]

the bay state banner
”a cluster of shimmering silver poles evokes the stand of trees where ancestors and living family members meet in “the grove,” on stage at the calderwood pavilion of the boston center for the arts through march 9 in a world premiere production by the huntington theater company. with staging as poetic as the play by nigerian american playwright mfoniso udofia, the huntington production is directed by awoye timpo, with scenic design by jason ardizzone-west, costumes by sarita fellows, lighting by reza behjat and cast members who embody their roles with conviction…”
-susan saccoccia [full review]

the harvard crimson
”from innovative set design to gut-wrenching performances, mfoniso udofia’s tearjerking new play, “the grove” — directed by awoye timpo — is an emotional rollercoaster that’s worth the ride… before the show begins, ’90s and 2000s rap and r&b play on stage in an empty living room adorned with a television and an open bible on the couch — details in jason ardizzone west’s scenic design that immediately draw attention to the family’s home and make one feel as though they are part of the story. in fact, the entire set — most notably its walls — brilliantly enhance the viewing experience of an already spectacular story. instead of solid walls, the walls of the different rooms in which this story takes place are made up of multiple tall silver rods, allowing insight into the mind of the main character Adiaha in a revolutionary way. with characters moving through and cutting down the walls like a forest, ardizzone-west not only creates a space for the story to take place but makes the space part of the story itself, using the set to reveal each character’s complex emotions and motivations and to tell the history of ibibio nigerian people. timpo’s direction and adesola osakalumi’s choreography incorporate the theater as a literal and figurative fourth wall, allowing full access to the ufot family household and its occupants’ minds. the set alone creates a unique emotional experience that constantly keeps one at the edge of their seat and continually reveals new surprises, pushing the limits of where and how theater can be presented…”
-dzifa a ackuayi [full review]

wbur
”timpo’s vision and udofia’s poetic, layered writing combine for a radiant production that pricks the heart.. onstage, pliable, vertical rods form rooms and walls that feel simultaneously permanent and impermanent. these wire-framed areas from set designer jason ardizzone-west (who also created the gorgeous set for “k-i-s-s-i-n-g”) rotate as the characters — a stellar cast that astonishes as they portray current ufot family members and ancestors — walk through them. matriarchal ancestors or shadows are nearly ever-present, tucked behind these walls and tethered to their kin… there are some impossibly gorgeous moments in “the grove,” the name seemingly a nod to the close kinship of trees that communicate through a network of underground roots unseen, nourishing and sustaining each other…”
-jacquinn sinclair [full review]

net theatre geek
”the grove is overwhelming. it is great art. it is overwhelmingly great art. we left the theatre on saturday afternoon brimming with strong emotion. the grove taps into what it means to be a queer artist reconciling who they are with where they come from and all of the social expectations that don’t intersect… this production retained many of its designers from sojourners. we can see this in many of the design elements of the production and especially in the expansion of scenic designer jason ardizzone-west’s set which used spiderwebbed metal rods to intersect the set for sojourners. In the grove, his design incorporates metal rods that trail off the stage and into the audience. these rods resemble the bamboo that grows in nigeria. they also look like prison bars keeping adiaha from parts of herself and from her ancestors who prowl between them. the bars become sharpened staffs the ancestors use in battle…”
-kitty drexel [full review]