SEPTEMBER 11 – OCTOBER 6, 2024

SOJOURNERS

POWERFUL AND HEARTFELT DRAMA

By Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton
September 11 - October 6, 2024

Abasiama and her husband Ukpong are Nigerian immigrants studying and living in Texas in the 1970s. Ukpong is exhilarated by the promises of America, but Abasiama is homesick and frustrated by Ukpong’s frequent absences. As Abasiama struggles with the physical pain of her pregnancy, the demands of work and schooling, the isolation of being away from her family, and the uncertainty of her future, an unexpected community inspires her to forge her own path. The first play in Mfoniso Udofia’s epic nine-part Ufot Cycle depicting the Nigerian-American experience, Sojourners is a “moving and powerful” (The New York Times) testament to the complexity of the American dream.

Thank you to our sponsors:
The 2024-2025 Season is sponsored by Linda J. Ravdin and Don Shapero.
Sojourners is sponsored by Nan Beckley and Jay & Robin Hammer.

View the digital program for Sojourners and learn more about the play HERE.

Learn more about The Ufot Cycle HERE.

"The warmth of the actors lends an aching humanity to the production"

-The Washington Post

"A true theatrical victory...Do not miss SOJOURNERS"

-Broadway World

"Intimate and insightful"

-Washington City Paper

"Compelling...nuanced and intense"

-DC Theater Arts

Cast

Opa Adeyemo

Ukpong

Opa Adeyemo (Ukpong) is a graduate from the Juilliard School of Drama. He recently starred in The First Deep Breath at Geffen Playhouse under the direction of Steven H. Broadnax. He shot a supporting role on one of the final episodes of The Good Fight and starred in the short film The Extenders, directed by Derrick Sanders. When he’s not working on plays or for the camera, you can find him with your ears. Opa loves the art of song and is working day in and out to share this love with the world.

Renea S. Brown

Moxie

Renea S. Brown (Moxie) is excited to return to Round House Theatre after winning the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Performer in a Play as Camae in The Mountaintop! Previous Round House credits include Dede in Nollywood Dreams. DC credits include Metamorphoses, Our Verse in Time to Come, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Folger Theatre; Tempestuous Elements and Change Agent at Arena Stage; The Tempest and Macbeth at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Love Factually at The Kennedy Center; and Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth at Chesapeake Shakespeare Theatre Company. Regional credits include The Wolves at McCarter Theatre; Othello, Sense and Sensibility, and Twelfth Night at Island Shakespeare Festival; and Much Ado About Nothing and A King and No King at American Shakespeare Center. MFA: Academy of Classical Acting. Instagram/TikTok: @Therealdarklady

Kambi Gathesha

Disciple

Kambi Gathesha (Disciple) is making his Round House Theatre debut. DC area credits include What to Send Up When it Goes Down at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and The Bakkhai at Baltimore Center Stage. Broadway credits include The Music Man, where he served as assistant to choreographer Warren Carlyle. Off-Broadway credits include What to Send Up When it Goes Down at Playwrights Horizons, the Public, and ART New York. Regional credits include Mlima’s Tale at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Big Love at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Film and television credits include the Amazon Prime series Big Dogs.

Billie Krishawn

Abasiama

Billie Krishawn (Abasiama) is a multi-disciplinary artist, activist-advocate, and two-time Helen Hayes Award winner. Recent credits include Metamorphoses at Folger Theatre; The Sensational Sea Mink–ettes at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; The Till Trilogy at Mosaic Theatre Company; Angels in America at Arena Stage; JUMP at Everyman Theatre; Blood at the Root at Theatre Alliance; The Joy That Carries You at Olney Theatre Center; Until the Flood at Studio Theatre; HERstory at The Kennedy Center; Melancholy Play at Constellation Theatre; Airness with 1st Stage and Keegan Theatre; and Something Moving at Ford’s Theatre. Television credits include Water in a Broken Glass on Prime Video. Instagram: @AbsoluteReality | www.BillieKrishawn.com

Isaiah C. Evans

Ukpong and Disciple Understudy

Isaiah C. Evans (Ukpong and Disciple Understudy) is excited to work with Round House Theatre for the first time. Regional theatre credits include Gem of the Ocean, Hamlet, Stick Fly, Kill Move Paradise, and The Piano Lesson at Arena Players; To Sir with Love and Did You See Jackie Robinson at the Waxter Center; and Serenity House at the Chesapeake Arts Center and the Harrisburg Fringe Festival. Film and television credits include House of Cards and For My Woman.

Creative Team

Production Photos

<p><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Aptos',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Billie Krishawn (Abasiama) and Opa Adeyemo (Ukpong) in <em>Sojourners.</em> Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.</span></p> — Billie Krishawn (Abasiama) and Opa Adeyemo (Ukpong) in *Sojourners.* Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.

<p>Renea S. Brown (Moxie) and Billie Krishawn (Abasiama) in <em>Sojourners.</em> Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.</p> — Renea S. Brown (Moxie) and Billie Krishawn (Abasiama) in *Sojourners.* Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.

<p>Kambi Gathesha (Disciple) in <em>Sojourners.</em> Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.</p> — Kambi Gathesha (Disciple) in *Sojourners.* Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.

<p>Opa Adeyemo (Ukpong) and Billie Krishawn (Abasiama) in <em>Sojourners.</em> Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.</p> — Opa Adeyemo (Ukpong) and Billie Krishawn (Abasiama) in *Sojourners.* Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.

View Online Program