THE MONSTERS: A Sibling Love Story
A TWO RIVER COMMISSIONED WORLD PREMIERE
THE MONSTERS: A Sibling Love Story
A world premiere co-production with Manhattan Theatre Club
For a long time, LIL has been obsessed with fighting, and one fighter in particular: her older brother BIG, an aging but successful figure in the local Mixed Martial Arts circuit. But she’s been doing it all from afar… until one day when she decides to show up on his doorstep. A World Premiere production with Manhattan Theatre Club, written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu (Good Grief, The Homecoming Queen, The Last of the Love Letters), The Monsters is a sibling love story about reunions, resentment, reconnection, and wrestling with demons.
“People have been calling plays a “knock out” for years, but The Monsters will redefine what that means,” says Artistic Director Justin Waldman. “Through the caldron of Mixed Martial Arts, Ngozi Anyanwu’s searing look at sibling love combines the poetry of words and the symphony of movement into an entirely unique experience. Ngozi is a singular voice and it is a tremendous thrill to support her meteoric rise through the American Theater.”
Tickets on sale JUN 2025, performances begin Fall 2025
MEET THE ARTIST
Ngozi Anyanwu
NGOZI ANYANWU (Playwright/Director) is a multi-hyphenated storyteller, and most recently a 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award winner. Anyanwu recently had the world premiere of her newest play Leroy and Lucy at The Steppenwolf Theatre, this fall of 2024. Previous productions include Last of the Love Letters (Atlantic Theater Company), Good Grief (Vineyard Theatre in NYC / Center Theatre Group in LA) in which she also starred, and The Homecoming Queen (sold-out world premiere run at the Atlantic Theater). Good Grief was on the Kilroys List 2016 and a semi-finalist for the Princess Grace Award, and won the Humanitas Award. The Homecoming Queen was on the Kilroys List in 2017 and was a Leah Ryan Finalist. Her play Nike… (Kilroys List 2017) was workshopped at The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark and The Strand Festival in conjunction with A.C.T and Space on Ryder Farm. Ngozi also has been commissioned by NYU, The Old Globe, Two River Theater, The Atlantic Theater, and Steppenwolf. Anyanwu has also received residencies from LCT3, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Space on Ryder Farm, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, The New Harmony Project, New York Stage and Film, and Page 73. She attended Point Park University (BA) and received her MFA in Acting from the University of California, San Diego.
PHOTOS
2024 Reading & Workshop
Tony Award® winner Kara Young and Hamilton original cast member Okieriete Onaodowan were in the ring with playwright Ngozi Anyanwu and MMA Consultant, Former UFC Fighter, Sijara (Sarj) Eubanks to continue the development of the Two River commissioned play The Monsters.
