By Kilian Melloy

Jazz musician, stand-up comic, playwright, screenwriter… Ahamefule J. Oluo is all of that and more. The author of two previous shows blending storytelling and music drawn from their own life and those of their parents, 2014’s Now I’m Fine, and 2019’s Susan, Oluo brings their latest, a solo show titled The Things Around Us, to The Emerson Paramount Center’s Robert J. Orchard Stage from February 20 – 22. The Things Around Us constitutes the third part of what’s become a trilogy, but, unlike the previous two shows, it’s a solo piece: Oluo will create the show’s music using loops rather than an orchestra. With a stand-up’s instincts for engaging with the room and a musician’s ear for the language of sound, the artist will present audiences with a unique experience that he tells us is hard to describe — but not to understand, not once you’ve had it.

Oluo took some time to chat with Theater Mirror about the show, how it grew out of past projects, and the loneliness of being backstage with no one but themself.

Read more “Strange Turns and True Stories: Ahamefule J. Oluo on Their New Show, ‘The Things Around Us’”