UCSD - University of California - San Diego

06/18/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/18/2026 05:09

Q&A: Theatre and Dance Alumna Ngozi Anyanwu on the Making of ‘The Monsters’

Published Date

June 18, 2026

Article Content

The West Coast premiere of "The Monsters" marks a homecoming for Ngozi Anyanwu, a UC San Diego Theatre and Dance Acting MFA alumna. Anyanwu not only wrote the acclaimed two-hander but also co-stars in the production, running at La Jolla Playhouse through June 28 in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

While not autobiographical, Anyanwu describes the play as a "love letter" to her brother. The story centers on siblings "Big" and "Lil" as they navigate a new chapter in their relationship following years of estrangement and unresolved family trauma. Set against the backdrop of mixed martial arts (MMA), Big is an experienced fighter who reluctantly agrees to train his little sister. But the play is as much about healing as it is about fighting. Dynamic training scenes are skillfully woven with tender moments of care, promptingThe New York Times to describe the work as a "redemptive sibling rivalry."

Following its world premiere at Two River Theater in New Jersey - which also marked Anyanwu's directorial debut - "The Monsters" garnered multiple major New York theater honors, including a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Play and a Drama League Award nomination for Outstanding Production of a Play. The work is set to move next to Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse in March 2027.

We caught up with Anyanwu to learn how a "side quest" in playwriting transformed into a powerful creative outlet, how meeting real-life MMA fighters helped shape authentic training scenes, the friendship she has developed with co-star Sullivan Jones (HBO's "The Gilded Age") and more.

How did your playwriting career begin?

I have always loved to write, but I didn't necessarily have validation or encouragement in it. I was part of the 1st Generation Nigerian Project with other first-gen Nigerian women, and we wrote skits and scenes and monologues and songs and dances together, but I didn't necessarily have the discipline to finish on my own.

During the third year of my MFA at UC San Diego, writing was my form of expression when I was stressed. I thought, let me do this other side quest, and then before I knew it, I had a play on my hands called "Good Grief." I thought, I'm actually proud of this. A few years later, I self-produced it and won the inaugural Humanitas/Center Theatre Group Playwriting Prize. After that, I signed with Creative Artists Agency, and everything snowballed from there.

Tell us about the origins of "The Monsters."

I started writing it in 2019 in a writer's group with Center Theatre Group (CTG). I had written the first 10 pages - a kind of love letter to my brother who was an MMA fighter in Philadelphia - but I couldn't get past that point. And then I was commissioned by Two River Theater to write a play, and they asked me what I needed for the workshop. I asked to meet with a local MMA fighter. And in walks Sijara Eubanks, this amazing woman who used to be in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), and her sister Yasmin Eubanks, who she was training to be a fighter. They are half-siblings who are 12 years apart. I generated the first part of the play after spending time with them and finished writing "The Monsters" over the next year after a second workshop with CTG.

A lot of my work is about connection and disconnection and the things that get in the way of that. Addiction, trauma and recovery are part of the story. It's about showing there is a way forward, and that it's okay to acknowledge how painful the way forward can be.

"It's about showing there is a way forward, and that it's okay to acknowledge how painful the way forward can be." Ngozi Anyanwu

How has the stage become a place for you to create new worlds?

In high school, I was involved in sports, but I was deeply unmotivated. Theatre was the one thing that I wanted to get better at. Around sophomore year in high school, I finally got the courage to audition for a musical, but it took me a while to put myself out there. I would try out for parts that were not necessarily built for anyone that looks like me. It was always just trying to find where I fit in, which is probably why I started writing. I didn't necessarily feel like I fit into things that I was auditioning for, so I decided to begin creating these worlds myself.

Theatre has been such a bastion for me. But as a Black female performer, I didn't necessarily see myself in a lot of places. So, I found myself through the writing - in trying to express what it is to be me, or what it is that I'm feeling like now. It's evolved past autobiographies, but they are all very personal, with the hope that other people are feeling the same thing I'm feeling.

How did you prepare for the physical demands of the role, and how do you ensure the training scenes are authentic?

I work out already, so I was already pretty physically adept before taking on the role. But a lot of it is moving in a very different way. I focus on recovery, waking up early to do yoga; I've got to take care of myself because we're putting ourselves through over an hour of hard physical and emotional training in our acting. As an MFA student, I took movement, combat and yoga classes. We also had access to the university gym. Depending on what show you were cast in, it was also physically rigorous.

A lot of intention has gone into "The Monsters" production to ensure that the choreography is beautiful, authentic and safe. Our director, Tamilla Woodard, led the vision, calling on the expertise of Sijara - who led a fitness bootcamp with us and also served as the fight consultant for the New York City production of "The Monsters." Adesola Osakalumi is our choreographer, who took what Sijara taught us and staged it to make it more of a dance. We had to think about both theatricality and wellbeing.

What is it like working co-star Sullivan Jones?

Sullivan's my buddy now; he will not be able to get rid of me! We held a small audition for "The Monsters" with people that we knew. I was a fan of his work; I'd seen him on stage and on television. We have become fast friends because the show demands that you take care of each other. He's a really fantastic partner, really lovely person, really rigorous artist. Hopefully this will be the first of many projects together. Finding a new collaborator is really wonderful.

What did you enjoy about the MFA program at UC San Diego?

I really enjoyed the rigor; I grew a lot. It was a really intimate program, we were eight actors, so we were kind of this company rocking together for three years. I'm still very much in touch with my classmates. I remember doing this crazy play with someone who's still a very good friend of mine, director Larissa Lury. It was her thesis play called "The Storm," and it was this really intense, not quite Chekhovian play, and I got to be this sort of ingenue. We also did "In the Red and Brown Water" by Tarell Alvin McCraney - who is one of my favorite contemporary writers - and we had a mostly all-Black ensemble, so that was really exciting.

Learn more about UC San Diego's Department of Theatre and Dance MFA programs.

UCSD - University of California - San Diego published this content on June 18, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 18, 2026 at 11:09 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]