Immigration is front and center in the heartfelt new dramatic play “Sojourners,” which opens Wednesday night at the prolific Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland, running now through Oct. 6.
“It’s a timely topic,” director Valerie Curtis-Newton told WTOP. “There’s a lot of conversation about immigration that doesn’t take into account how many folks really love where they came from. They come here for education, to move ahead economically, many go back or send money back, and they contribute to our society. It’s not a one-way transaction. It’s a give and take that makes America stronger to have new ideas and different perspectives woven into the fabric of our country.”
The story follows a pregnant woman named Abasiama and her husband Ukpong, a pair of Nigerian immigrants studying and living in Houston in 1978. Ukpong is excited by the promises of America and grows to love their new home, while Abasiama becomes homesick and increasingly frustrated by Ukpong’s frequent absences.
“They had an arranged marriage and they come to the U.S.,” Curtis-Newton said. “One of them is in love with the country and the other one still hungers for home, so the idea of how they work together to settle that tension in their relationship and what the experiences are for each of them is the heart of what the play is about. … A sojourn is a temporary stay. … That’s one of the tensions: whether to go home or to not go home.”
Similar to August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” of 10 plays, “Soujourners” is the first in an epic nine-part “Ufot Cycle” depicting the Nigerian-American experience. It’s written by playwright Mfoniso Udofia, who grew up in Massachusetts with parents who immigrated from Nigeria. You might recognize her writing from “Little America” (Apple), “A League of Their Own” (Prime), “Let the Right One In” (Showtime) and “13 Reasons Why” (Netflix).
“This play ‘Sojourners’ is actually the first in the cycle, it’s the origin story. all of the foundational characters are present in this play, so we see them arrive here and wrestle with what it is to be an immigrant,” Curtis-Newton said. “I think Episode 3 of ‘Little America’ actually is the story of a Nigerian immigrant who came here to go to college, so there are a lot of themes and ideas in that show that are present in our play.”