• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

THEATER PREVIEW: OBEHI JANICE SET TO INSPIRE WITH “FUFU & OREOS”

Written by SPENCER SHANNON Posted February 4, 2015 Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts

TR_FufuOreos2(BeccaALewis)_728

As actor/writer Obehi Janice makes last-minute adjustments in rehearsals—a week away from the premiere of her forthcoming one-woman show, “FUFU & OREOS”—her ability to fluidly and dramatically transition between characters elicits delighted laughs from the play’s director, Rebecca Bradshaw.

 

After a few minutes, Bradshaw asks her to run through a scene again. “Father” and “Uncle” sound too similar, so Bradshaw asks Janice to alter her voice and her body language in order to differentiate the two characters more clearly. After a pause, Janice takes it from the top, and out of nowhere, she creates someone completely new. Bradshaw is floored.

 

“You have so many people in your back pocket!” she exclaims. “That’s crazy! Do you see how crazy that is?” And Janice must have some inkling, since in “FUFU” she portrays almost 30 distinct individuals.

 

“I don’t think about that, ’cause if I do, I’ll be like, ‘I’m not doing it! It’s not happening!’” Janice says with a laugh.

 

In 2009, while still in college at Georgetown University, Janice began writing “FUFU & OREOS” after noticing the lack of original plays about Nigerian-American women. “I was just like, ‘I’m gonna write one by myself, and then I’ll make it about myself,’ which is the worst idea ever,” she says, laughing.

 

Janice speaks with an easy candor and grace, tempered with an endearing brand of modest self-deprecation that charmingly diverts attention away from her radiant talent. While most people would balk at the idea of performing their intimate, personal history onstage, Janice embraces it. And for her, it always had to be this way.

 

“I believe in the power of voice, and I think that when you’re doing a solo piece, and when it’s good, it really pushes our perception of what it means to be one human being,” Janice says. As for where the wellspring for such a project is found, Janice says it’s a hyper-awareness of her identity, and a clinical depression diagnosis in 2009. “That’s what the inspiration is,” she says. “How [to] find power through words when you’re not speaking, not interacting.”

 

Bradshaw seconds the idea: “It’s definitely a play about finding your identity and finding your people,” she says. “I definitely hope that it connects with a lot of people who have had similar experiences, because I know that a lot of those people are here, especially in the city, and [theirs are] voices we don’t really hear onstage that often. We put some stories onstage, but this is a really modern and really contemporary portrayal of a multicultural experience.”

 

That experience is one in dire need of real representation, and authentic depictions of it are becoming more the norm. For younger audiences who are seeking stories from multicultural playwrights, people who look like them or share their histories, theater is becoming the one place where they can find it with increasing regularity. When a woman of color is onstage, declaring her truth, there is no room for reinterpretation, no space for ambiguity or an excuse for “retelling” within the frame of white recasting—a plight that still befalls so many narratives in television and film.

 

“Our country is changing. Our country’s consciousness is changing. I think what we’re understanding is that the idea of white normativity is very destructive,” says Janice. “[This] is responding to that.”

 

And while Janice seems to be no stranger to casually dropping profound statements about the importance of representation (“Theater will die if people who look like me don’t go see it,” she says), her words are nevertheless true. Boston remains a place where diversity is abundant, but getting mainstream stages to produce authentic reflections of that diversity continues to be a challenge. And if the warm reception of Company One’s production of Aditi Kapil’s “Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy” last year proved anything, it’s that audiences are ready for more.

 

“What I hope is that people who see my play will write. I just want people like me to write. I want them to be encouraged to make themselves visible,” Janice says passionately. “I actually want you to be a little changed when you leave the theater. That’s my goal.”

 

BRIDGE REP PRESENTS: FUFU & OREOS. DEANE HALL, 527 TREMONT ST., BOSTON. FEB 6 – FEB 27. FOR SHOWTIMES AND TICKET PRICES, VISIT BRIDGEREP.WORDPRESS.COM

SPENCER SHANNON
More from author
  • SPENCER SHANNON
    https://digboston.com/author/spencer-shannon/
    BLACK DIALOGUE: INTELLIGENT MISCHIEF AND THE SUMMER OF RADICAL IMAGINATION
  • SPENCER SHANNON
    https://digboston.com/author/spencer-shannon/
    DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
  • SPENCER SHANNON
    https://digboston.com/author/spencer-shannon/
    THE SUBMISSION: ZEITGEIST STAGE'S SPRING CLOSER MEDIATES ON BIG ISSUES
  • SPENCER SHANNON
    https://digboston.com/author/spencer-shannon/
    MOTHERS AND SONS: TEARS AND TRUTHS IN SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY'S LATEST

Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts Tagged With: Aditi Kapil, Bridge Rep, Company One, Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy, fufu, georgetown university, inspiration, nigerian american, obehi janice, one woman, oreos, performing arts, play, rebecca bradshaw, theater

WHAT’S NEW

SOULDIER STORY: JOEL MASSICOT ON MIXING MARTIAL ARTS, DANCE, AND MILITARY INFLUENCES

SOULDIER STORY: JOEL MASSICOT ON MIXING MARTIAL ARTS, DANCE, AND MILITARY INFLUENCES

THE END OF THE WORLD IN AN AIRBNB

THE END OF THE WORLD IN AN AIRBNB

MEETING THREATS WITH HOPE AND COURAGE

MEETING THREATS WITH HOPE AND COURAGE

TITANIC SHIFTS: DEMS SWAP DECK CHAIRS AMIDST GOP-PROVOKED TSUNAMI

TITANIC SHIFTS: DEMS SWAP DECK CHAIRS AMIDST GOP-PROVOKED TSUNAMI

NEARLY A YEAR INTO PANDEMIC, MASS CATS ARE STILL SHORT ON FOOD

NEARLY A YEAR INTO PANDEMIC, MASS CATS ARE STILL SHORT ON FOOD

STATE WIRE: PEACE ADVOCATES PRESENT HOPES FOR FUTURE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY

STATE WIRE: PEACE ADVOCATES PRESENT HOPES FOR FUTURE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • APPOINTED SOMERVILLE OFFICIAL SPURS OUTRAGE WITH TWEETS FROM DC MOB SCENE by MARC LEVY
  • Aerial View Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common. CC BY-SA 4.0 2017 by AbhiSuryawanshi. NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM by MATTHEW ANDREWS
  • VIDEO: COP WHO BRAGGED THAT HE HIT PROTESTERS SHOWS HOW BAD APPLES THRIVE IN BOSTON by CHRIS FARAONE
  • PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS by SARAH BETANCOURT
  • IT’S HARDER THAN EVER TO FIND A BATHROOM IN BOSTON. WHAT’S THE CITY DOING ABOUT IT? by ZACK HUFFMAN

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

Footer

digbos

“We were all caught pretty off guard when the pa “We were all caught pretty off guard when the pandemic hit, but I think that using the resources that we have available to us we have been able to meet the demand at every step.” https://digboston.com/handling-the-herd-how-boston-built-its-massive-covid-testing-apparatus/ #politics #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker started the new year Republican Gov. Charlie Baker started the new year by vetoing a sweeping #climate change bill. https://digboston.com/titanic-shifts-dems-swap-deck-chairs-amidst-gop-provoked-tsunami/ #politics #news #Democrats #GOP #Boston #Massachusetts #USA #veto
“Trump was voted out. However, this is not a man “Trump was voted out. However, this is not a mandate for #Biden and #Harris.” https://digboston.com/photos-recap-no-honeymoon-for-biden-rally-in-boston/ #photo #rally #march #left #protest #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM? #Boston #protest for Indian farmers, Saturday 1/23/21, 12-1 pm at the #Massachusetts State House https://digboston.com/opinion-is-dissent-anti-nationalism-or-patriotism/ #India #politics #food #farmer #protest #justice #solidarity @monica_gill1
HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO A HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP https://digboston.com/no-justice-how-officials-in-one-mass-town-took-extraordinary-measures-to-appease-a-controversial-cop/ #ArlingtonMA #police #reform #cop #racism #controversy #BlackLivesMatter #Massachusetts
Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for host Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for hosts, servers, bartenders, bussers … What happens to those #jobs if virtual kitchens continue to flourish? https://digboston.com/ghost-story-virtual-kitchens-appear-to-be-the-next-big-thing-but-at-what-cost/ #restaurant #labor #work #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
“I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan “I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan. 7 in the same country we went to bed in on the 6th.” https://digboston.com/former-mass-gubernatorial-candidate-predicted-violence-before-assault-on-capitol/ #politics #Massachusetts #national #Capitol #WashingtonDC #MAGA
RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL http RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL https://digboston.com/radical-and-relevant-the-life-of-harry-brill/ #obituary #organizer #radical #sociologist #democracy #politics @UMassBoston @BklynCollege411 @UCBerkeley #Boston #Massachusetts #NewYorkCity #Berkeley #California
NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON CO NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM https://digboston.com/no-honeymoon-for-biden-1-20-protest-on-boston-common-4-pm/ #opinion #progressive #left #action #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this lat Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this latest incarnation of a #beer that’s been in the making for months. https://digboston.com/video-jacks-abby-x-boston-celtics-pride-and-parquet-hoppy-lager-unboxing-tasting/ #fun #video #review #Boston #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]