Please bring your lunch and join us for a conversation between 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission writer Mfoniso Udofia and actor, writer, and director Shá Cage.

Shá Cage is a playwright, actor, and spoken word poet.  She has written two solo plays, six collaborative plays, and has traveled widely to areas such as Canada, England, Africa, New York, Bosnia, France, and more, teaching and performing her work that largely centers around topics of identity, class, and home. She recently closed the plays Clybourne Park at the Guthrie Theater and Nellie at the MN History Theater, followed by her first solo work N.I.G.G.E.R., which was produced by Intermedia Arts. Internationally, she has worked at the Hackney Empire Theater, Nottingham Playhouse, and Zion Arts in England. She was seen last in Appomattox at the Guthrie Theater and in Penumbra's production of Amen Corner. Notable local roles include: Agnes in Agnes Under the Big Top (Mixed Blood), Helena in Eclipsed, Venus in Venus (Frank Theater), Josephine in Ruined (Mixed Blood), and the Bride in Blood Wedding (10 Thousand Things). She's also worked with Illusion, Pangea, and Jeune Luene. Film Credits include: Drop Dead Gorgeous, Midnight Chronicles, Cry About a Nickel, and Radio. Recent Awards include: A 2011 Emmy: 'I Believe in Public Access' commercial, a 2011 McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship, and named a "Changemaker" (Women's Press).

Mfoniso Udofia is a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College and obtained her MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater. Ufot Family Cycle plays, Sojourners and Her Portmanteau, will be produced this coming Spring 2017 as part of New York Theatre Workshop's season. In Winter 2016, Playwrights Realm produced the off-Broadway World Premiere of Sojourners. In Spring 2016, The Magic Theater in San Francisco produced the West Coast Premiere of Sojourners and the World Premiere of the third installation in the Ufot Family Cycle, runboyun. Mfoniso’s currently working on Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Play On! commission translating Shakespeare’s Othello. She’s also the Artistic Director of the NOW AFRICA: Playwrights Festival and a proud member of New Dramatists class of 2023. Mfoniso’s plays have been developed, presented and/or produced by Seattle Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Realm, The Magic Theatre, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, NNPN New Play Showcase, Makehouse, Soul Productions, terraNOVA, I73, The New Black Fest, Rising Circle's INKTank, At Hand Theatre Company, The Standard Collective, American Slavery Project, Liberation Theatre Company and more. Her acting credits include: [feature starring Elliot Gould] Fred Won't Move Out, [play] Current Good, [musical] Children of Eden, A Christmas Carol and more. Please follow her at www.mfonisoudofia.com.