tl;dr: more often than not, Ekemini’s work in the theatre is to play-pretend. As an actor, she’s worked with the Huntington Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and Clubbed Thumb, among others. And for the past three years, she’s also acted/sung/rapped/frosted cakes/etc. at Mercury Store.
When she’s not wearing her metaphorical clown nose, Ekemini writes about theatre in publications such as Howlround Theatre Commons, 3Views, or Keep Your Change (a co-production with Des’ree Brown).
She also served on the 2022 Expand the Canon reading committee, where she helped to identify plays by women and gender-expansive writers that might have been considered canonical, if we lived in a more just world.
And exactly one time, someone asked her to yap about theatre in front of a podcast mic.
acting, currently or recently
- 2025: Shadow, u/s Adiaha in The Grove at the Huntington Theatre
- 2025: Reeny in Edges at the Hunter MFA Playwrights Festival
- 2025: Developmental workshop at New Dramatists
- 2022-present: Actor at Mercury Store
- See also: her headshot and resume
fellowships
- 2022: BIPOC Critics Lab – The Public Theater
- 2021: IGNITE Mentorship Program – Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE)
bylines
2025 [Review] “Who Can Hear the Music?” 3 Views
2024 [Review] “‘LINES’ 3-in-1: A Timeline Review” 3 Views; co-authored with Citlali Pizarro and Shreya Chattopadhyay
2023 [Essay] “Write It Out! Demonstrates Proof of Concept With Announcement of Second-Ever Prize Recipient, Matty Mahoski” TheBody
2022 [Essay] “Seeing Double: Double Consciousness as a Black Theatre Practitioner” Howlround Theatre Commons
2022: [Live Interview] “Black Futures Conversation with Troy Anthony” Howlround Theatre Commons
2022: [Print] “BIPOC Critics Lab Trains the Next Generation” Americans for the Arts
2022 [Podcast] “Fat Ham” Critics’ Table for Broadway Podcast Network
Ekemini Ekpo (center-left) in Marissa Joyce Stamps’ Fall 2023 Mercury Store workshop; photo by Danté Charles Crichlow
Ekemini Ekpo (center) in Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Grove; photo by Marc J. Franklin
Ekemini Ekpo (left) in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of The Tempest; photo by Evgenia Eliseeva
Ekemini Ekpo 