Ibibio people

I just knew.

Because in my household even, the split and divide between English and Ibibio was quite clear.

And so even though I couldn't do the work of translating, I would have somebody come in.

And one of the anchor points for me in my plays and in my work, is it true? So I never wanted to write anything or write in a way that would make it easy to digest but would make the characters not true to themselves.

And so Abasiama and then her husband Ukpong and the man who would then go on to become her second husband, Disciple, they think in Ibibio.

They do not think in English.

And I wanted to make sure I held that and then ask the audiences to lean in, and I figured that it was okay 'cause the first time I watched a Shakespeare play I didn't know what the hell was going on.

I'm like, "These two people are coming together wrong.

This merging of art and space can happen on a smaller scale, too, where the art isn't the building itself, but the arrangement of objects within it.

Take, for example, this carving made by an Ibibio artist in Nigeria sometime in the early to mid-20th century.

It depicts the deity Mami Wata, a water goddess worshipped by followers of various traditional West and Central African religions.

Her hair and command of the snake in her arms show her spiritual prowess.

I engage her because I know that she can do.

She even has Ibibio lessons, you know.

So I engage her.

She's very engaged.