Her Portmanteau NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
'Sojourners' and 'Her Portmanteau' comprise a two-part theatrical event running in rep at New York Theatre Workshop. They're part of 'The Ufot Cycle,' a nine-play saga chronicling the matriarch of a Nigerian family.
Read more Show lessShow-Score Member Reviews (73)
See it if understanding the outcome of Sojourners matters. A real improvement with tighter writing than part 1. Loved the casting flip.Mom = daughter.
Don't see it if you don't care about the outcome of part 1. Read more
See it if Companion piece to Sojourners dealing w/ lead character 30 yrs later Top notch acting sustains piece despite slow pace & confusing plotlines
Don't see it if Very confusing w/o knowledge of previous incidents of 1st play However, the 'sins of the parents' & African diaspora themes are timeless
See it if You want to hear the Nigerian immigrant story as a mother tries to bring reconciliation between herself and two daughters one left in Lagos.
Don't see it if You aren't interested in above, have trouble with Nigerian accents, speechifying, Igbo dialogue with no translation, slow pace.Still worthy.
See it if A very tense 3-hander with some very good performances. An original idea.
Don't see it if Not as good as its prequel, Sojourners. I found it hard to believe that this was the same character. Too much dialogue in Nigerian.
See it if you enjoy powerful relationship problems within a family. See even if you didn't like Sojourners. This was better done.
Don't see it if you like humor. This play is all serious. Members of family with different cultural background meet.
See it if you can get past not understanding a good third of the dialogue which is in an African language without subtitles Interesting concept,acting
Don't see it if you think theater is about words as well as emotion and. therefore, see the need to understand what is being said,
See it if You've already seen Sojourners and liked it.
Don't see it if You disliked Sojourners. Read more
See it if you like good acting and strong accent work. You like family dramas and "event" plays.
Don't see it if you need loose ends & references to be clear. You're not interested in socially relevant theatre. You're not a fan of "important" theater. Read more
Critic Reviews (21)
"Strong and intimate...'Her Portmanteau' features terrific performances by Jules, Ogbuagu, and Oduye, who wonderfully capture the realistic twists and turns as the characters feel one another out and search for their place in this new arrangement. Udofia and director Ed Sylvanus Iskandar are in no rush to reach any conclusions, letting things develop naturally on Sherwood’s homey set."
Read more
"It's somehow flimsy on details, and it resolves too quickly and neatly. There's big emotion here, but it doesn't feel earned. One of Udofia's great strengths is her finely drawn characters; we understand right away who these three women are...But we never get a strong enough sense of what is driving them and their inner lives remain a mystery...A standard American play about the relationship between a mother and her daughters, though there's not enough at stake to completely draw us in."
Read more
"This play is much more intense, direct, and shorter than the first and even as short as it was there are two scenes that are needlessly long and drawn out. This one could be approximately 85-90 minutes max and could really pack a punch. I think the creatives love their words and drama a bit too much and need to trim things down for a focused, powerful, and punch-to-the-gut two part series."
Read more
“Though the result is often excruciatingly dry, the plays demand a witnessing of their American immigrants’ stories…The plays’ micro-drama needs a lively staging to offset its sedateness, but Iskandar has gone in the opposite direction...'Her Portmanteau' suffers less from this inertia...The scripts could equally benefit from a trim...It is thrilling to watch a dynamic American voice bring the new wine of marginalized voices to the stage.”
Read more
“My misgivings stem not from the good story, but from the prolonged telling. The nearly two hours is stuffed full of seemingly endless business: long phone calls that a majority of the audience can't understand…Usually, Ed Sylvanus Iskandar is an inventive director who uses time and space to his advantage, but in this work, it seemed that time stood still and the story did not warrant the time it took to be told.”
Read more