Bio
Moyo Ifafore is a Nigerian-American actor, playwright and director, originally from New York State and Washington D.C. She’s currently receiving her BFA in Acting from Carnegie Mellon University, and is on track to graduate in May 2027.
Moyo is not one to shy away from spirituality and superstition, and from a very young age- she’s known that her destiny has been to be involved in the theatre. That has evolved, from the sole desire to be an actor, to be a playwright and director. These new interests evolved partially out of a discovered necessity, and partially out of a passion.
While studying at Duke Ellington, Professor Eric Ruffin once said: “He who Controls the images projected to the masses, controls their self esteem.” At 14, the thought made sense and registered, but it wasn’t until college that it really clicked. There is a definitive absence in stories about the Black female identity. Within the stories that exist, familiar, upsetting, stereotypical tropes play out, unbeknownst, unregistered by the non-black femme audiences that consume them. The Nigerian identity- and more specifically, the identity of the Nigerian-American, is also incredibly underexplored. With these gaps in mind, she asked herself: Who benefits from these stories going untold? Why aren’t these stories being told? Who benefits from these stories being shared? And how can she tell these stories?
Moyo’s work- performed, written, directed, is all about challenging assumptions, bridging cultural gaps, and helping an audience confront issues- and hopefully leading us all to creating a world we can all be proud to live in.
If theatre is a method for conversation between audience and actor and a vehicle for catharsis- Moyo wants to reach out with her work. To provide space for new definitions of black womanhood, to share the experience of the Nigerian-American child, and to embody characters with absolute integrity. All this, with the hope that in witnessing her work, an audience can laugh, cry, and/or heal.
.jpg)