The Cast of "The African Company Presents Richard III" 2024
The Cast of "The Thanksgiving Play" 2024
Daniel Bills-Warman "Goodnight,Tyler" 2025
Lucas Lloyd and Connor Graham "The African Company Presents Richard III" 2024
Dayatra Hassan in "Everybody" 2025
The Cast of "The Thanksgiving Play" 2024
Zachary Bellus and Janáe Leonard in "Goodnight,Tyler" 2025
The Cast of "Everybody" 2025
Anika Pace and Brian Brown "The African Company Presents Richard III" 2024
The Cast of "The Thanksgiving Play" 2024
Cordell Hopkins " Goodnight,Tyler" 2025
Yael Montijo-Terrana "Everybody" 2025
Curtis Lovell in the Lorna C Hill Theater 2024
Julia Pitarresi and Cordell Hopkins "Goodnight,Tyler" 2025
The Cast of "Everybody" 2025
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Up Next at the Lorna C. Hill Theater
Up Next at the Lorna C. Hill Theater
Godspell
September 5 - September 19, 2025
Ujima opens its 47th season with the iconic musical Godspell by John-Michael Tebelak, featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. This uplifting production brings together an eclectic group of individuals to tell timeless parables through song, dance, and joy. With its message of hope and unity, Godspell promises to be a joyous celebration of faith, love, and community. Ujima is proud to present this production because of its deep connection to the ideals of collective responsibility and the belief that one person's kindness and service can uplift all. In a time when we need unity more than ever, Godspell reaffirms the power of community and shared humanity.
Straight White Men
November 14 - November 23, 2025
When Ed and his three adult sons come together to celebrate Christmas, they enjoy cheerful trash-talking, pranks, and takeout Chinese. Then they confront a problem that even being a happy family can’t solve: When identity matters, and privilege is problematic, what is the value of being a straight white man?
The play's 2018 production at the Hayes Theater made writer Young Jean Lee the first Asian American woman to have a play produced on Broadway.
The Brothers Size
February 27 - March 8, 2026
In the Louisiana bayou, big brother Ogun Size is hardworking and steady. Younger brother Oshoosi is just out of prison and aimless. Elegba, Oshoosi's old prison-mate, is a mysterious complication. A simple circle defines a world that begins in ritual and evolves into a tough and tender drama of what it means to brother and be brothered. Flights of poetry, music, dance and West African mythology combine in a contemporary tale that explores the tenuousness of freedom and the need to belong somewhere, to something, to someone.
Yalla Bitch
June-July 2026
Closing the season is Yalla Bitch by Ujima’s legendary founder, Lorna C. Hill. This bold and provocative play, staged in the heart of summer, is a fierce exploration of power, agency, and the voices of Black women. Yalla Bitch serves as both an artistic triumph and a tribute to Hill’s indelible impact on the theatre world and beyond. In an exciting development, Ujima will be touring this production—an important milestone, as it marks the first time in many years that the company has taken a show on the road. This tour reaffirms Ujima’s commitment to sharing impactful stories with a wider audience and strengthening our reach beyond Buffalo. This special run of Yalla Bitch will be performed in gardens across the Buffalo Area.
FOUNDER
Lorna C. Hill founded the Ujima Theatre Co. in 1978 to serve the purpose of beauty and justice, and served as artistic director until her passing in 2020, helping transform the city of Buffalo through her work.
Ujima means "collective work and responsibility"
Ujima Company’s strength lies in its reliability, the consistency of its artistic vision, and its adherence to the principles embodied by the Swahili word for which it is named. For four decades, under the leadership of Artistic Directors Lorna C. Hill (1978-2020), Sarah Norat-Phillips (interim 2020-2024), and Curtis Lovell (present), the company has provided diverse Western New York audiences with solid, professional theatre experiences. While firmly rooted in the many traditions of African-American theatre, Ujima includes in its long history, productions from the traditions of other people of color, from other countries and cultures, and from the all-encompassing spectrum of traditional and contemporary American theatre. Ujima is constantly growing, evolving, improving.
SUPPORT UJIMA
If you have found joy and or solace at an Ujima Company performance, please consider making a donation to support our work.
Land Acknowledgement
Ujima Company acknowledges the land we rest on as the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, and honor the sovereignty of the Six Nations – the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora.
In this acknowledgment, we hope to demonstrate respect for the treaties that were made on these territories and remorse for the harms and mistakes of the far and recent past.
We honor the legacy of the many ancestors and elders who made this land their home and infused it with their spirit for thousands of years. We also honor the Original Peoples who remain on the ancestral homelands of Turtle Island and who have survived centuries of colonialism, genocide, and land theft.
Finally, we honor those who are not here, but who might have been, were it not for this history of violence. We pledge to work toward partnership with a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
Ujima’s Work is Made Possible by
Our Sponsors
Ujima Co. Inc is supported in part by public funds distributed by the New York State Council on the Arts; the County of Erie; Niagara District Councilman, David A. Rivera; and Erie County Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams.
The Chorus Foundation and The Frank G. Raichle Foundation