Event

DR. OFEM AJAH "Su-Su"

Blackboard Plays
Devoted to the Black Playwright since 2008

SU-SU
written by Dr. Ofem Ajah
directed by Alex Ubokudom

followed by a 20 minute talkback
~refreshments provided~

ABOUT THE PLAY:
Seven low-level female staff of Methodist Hospital from six countries, form a su-su and all is well until their leader, a Nigerian woman, Mrs. Mercy Bassey, is slain by a rogue cop on her birthday. Her daughter is selected to succeed her but the group is gripped by tension, suspicion, and distrust. The cop is admitted to the hospital with a piece of steak in his throat where the slain leaders daughter (Abigail Bassey) is forced to take care of him. Under anesthesia, the cop confesses to the murder of Mrs. Bassey, causing her daughter to collapse. The cop is arrested and imprisoned. The daughter discovers that her mother had invested the groups money in high-flying stocks. The group assembles and each member receives her bulging purse.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
DR. OFEM AJAH

Born in Adim, Cross River State, Nigeria, Dr. Ofem Ajah attended Presbyterian School Adim from 1965-71 before being interrupted by the Biafran war, during which he was a refugee. His secondary education was in St. Brendans Secondary School, Iyamoyong, Cross River State, Nigeria. He went on to medical school, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria and began practicing in Nigeria until 1989 when he relocated to the US.

In 1990, Dr. Ajah began his internship at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn until becaming a specialist in gastroenterology (stomach diseases) in 1996. He is currently an attending physician at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. His interest in literature dates back to my secondary school days. Dr. Ahah is married with two children and wrote this play to memorialize his first son who died suddenly of asthma in February.