What happens when a 12-year-old African boy connects with a Black American girl after settling down in New York City’s Little Senegal? Emmy-nominated playwright Mfoniso Udofia explores that ensuing friendship in her latest project, the fifth production of nine in the Ufot Family Cycle, Kufre N’ Quay.
The Ufot Family Cycle is Udofia’s boldest project to date: a two-year collaboration across Greater Boston that explores family relations spanning three generations of Nigerian Americans.
As the cycle’s fifth play, Kufre N’ Quay crosses the halfway point in that epic story arc. Yet the project shows no signs of slowing down nor shallowing its depth; Kufre N’ Quay matches the grand ambition of prior Ufot Family Cycle productions, such as The Grove, which won the 2025 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script.
“You’ve got Quay, who is a little Black American girl, and you’ve got Kufre, who is coming in from Nigeria, and they are my central love story. And it’s...looking at what a friendship across an ocean could be,” said Udofia.
Kufre N’ Quay’s young cast showcases the up-and-coming theatrical talent of Greater Boston. The character Kufre Ekpeyong is the first professional role for 11-year-old Levi Mngomezulu, a Newton, Massachusetts native.
“For all audiences, I just hope you go out of the theater with a better understanding of different cultures,” Mngomezulu said.
Fifteen-year-old Ngolela Kamanampata stars opposite Mngomezulu as the titular Quay in Kufre N’ Quay. Kamanampata’s involvement highlights how the casting process ties into Boston students’ other successes. The actor, named the 2025 August Wilson New Voices Competition Boston Champion, is also an honors student at Boston Arts Academy.
“What really drew me to the role of Quay was just the representation of a Black girl who loved theater, and a Black girl who might not always know what she’s doing all the time, and a Black girl that is filled with so much love,” Kamanampata said.
From a fresh cast to an award-winning playwright, there’s a lot that’s new in the play. At the same time, audiences remain grounded in familiar themes of Mfonsio Udofia’s work, including Black friendship, family and cultural ties.
“It’s not a children’s play; it’s a play with children,” noted Udofia. “We are teaching and directing simultaneously and really giving the youth a shot to shine in the bodies that they inhabit.”
Directed by John ADEkjoe, and produced in partnership with the Wheelock Family Theatre, Kufre N’ Quay runs from July 10-26 at the Boston Arts Academy Main Stage Theatre, which is located at 174 Ipswich Street in Boston. Click here for more information.
Guests
- Mfoniso Udofia, award-winning playwright and the creator of the Ufot Family Cycle.
- Levi Mngomezulu, an actor making his professional debut as Kufre
- Ngolela Kamanampata, an actress playing LaQuasha or Quay
