‘The High Table’
When: Previews begin Thursday. Opens Feb. 18 and runs through March 5.
7 p.m. Thursdays;
8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
Where: Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights
Tickets: $20-$50
Phone: (619) 220-0097
Online: diversionary.org
also was interested in the way homophobia in Nigerian culture specifically, but also in Black diasporic communities, is rooted in colonialism. It’s like an imposition upon a culture rather than being organic to a culture.”
For “The High Table’s” American premiere, Wilkey has changed the setting from Britain to San Diego. Lagos, Nigeria, and the ancestors’ astral plane are also represented onstage.
Agosto pointed out that this production is “very respectful
of the Nigerian culture.”
“I am familiar with some of the traditions,” she said. “As a member of the Pan-African diaspora I did not realize how much of my culture retains some of that culture from Nigeria.”
This is the first time Agosto and Henderson have worked together since an Old Globesponsored virtual presentation for Juneteenth in 2018, “Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley: From Slavery to Modiste.”
Agosto said the Tara/Leah
dynamic in “The High Table” reflects “a real relationship. There’s still work to be done, communication that needs to be cleared up, promises that need to be kept.”
It’s a tall order, complicated by difficult parents and those pesky, judging ancestors.
But Agosto reminds that “Love and family are both messy. If we give them enough nurturing, we can get them to look the way we need them to look.”