Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
Family Weekend Performance Dates: January 29 – February 6, 2022
School Day Matinee Dates: February 1-4, 2022
Touring Dates: February 7 – May 13, 2022
“Thank you for gathering, children – now listen well. My name is Chinouyazue, and I have a story for you. My story comes from a long time ago, in a certain place in Africa – yet things there are not so different from today, as you shall soon see.”
The king is searching for the most “worthy and beautiful” daughters in the land to select his bride, but in this African tale of generosity, kindness, and selflessness, Mufaro’s daughters Manyara and Nyasha learn that true beauty comes from within.
Based on the book by John Steptoe
Adapted with permission of the Steptoe Estate
By Karen Abbott
Best enjoyed by ages 5 and up
Location: The LCT Main Stage and On Tour
Length of Show: Approximately 1 hour long
Funded by:
Family Weekend Performance Info
Due to inclement weather, our Sensory Friendly performance was rescheduled to Sunday, February 6th at 4:30pm.
Sunday, January 30 – 2:00pm
Saturday, February 5 – 7:00pm*
Sunday, February 6 – 2:00pm & 4:30pm^*
*Pay What You Will
^Sensory Friendly
Purchase a Membership Purchase Single Tickets or Redeem Membership
Purchase Sensory Friendly Performance Tickets Learn more about our Sensory Friendly programming
Discover More with our FREE Father-Daughter celebration before the Pay What You Will performance on Saturday, February 5!
Learn More About the Event
School Day Matinee Info
Tuesday – Friday, February 1-4
10:00am & 11:45am
Schedule a Field Trip
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is recommended for – Kindergarten – 3rd grade
Curricular Connections – African Folklore, Family, Heritage, Forgiveness
Things to Know Before the Show
Educational Play GuideRead the Playbill
About LCT’s Touring Productions
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is one of our Touring Productions, which means it doesn’t just perform here in Lexington! Our four professional actors are traveling with this and our other production of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane from February through May to schools, libraries, and theatres all over the Commonwealth and beyond! As a touring production, the show is designed to be performed by a smaller cast, so you will notice that the four actors play multiple different characters throughout the course of the story.
About your trip to the theatre
Be sure to arrive early to find a place to park – options include metered parking surrounding the theatre and the parking garage on the corner of Broadway and Short Street. LCT unfortunately cannot validate garage parking.
Masks are always required in the building, regardless of vaccination status. Masks must cover mouth and nose (the only exception is infants under 2 years of age). Guests who are not willing to comply with this guideline will be asked to leave the premises. Hand sanitizer stations are available throughout the building. All LCT staff members are fully vaccinated. For more COVID safety info: https://www.lctonstage.org/covid19-safety/
The Larry and Vivian Snipes Main Stage will open 30 minutes prior to show time. While the Box Office will be open 60 minutes prior to show time for those who still need to purchase tickets, if you have already purchased your tickets, we encourage you to arrive no earlier than 30 minutes prior to showtime and plan on going directly to your seats to prevent congregating in our lobby.
LCT is moving to contactless/paperless ticketing and playbills. Your ticket confirmation email will have all the information you need to check in, no physical tickets required! It’s a good idea to have the email pulled up on your phone when you arrive so you can reference your seat numbers. At the theatre doors, just tell our ushers the name your tickets are under and they will be able to check you in and help you find your seats.
To offset the heat generated by stage lighting, the Larry and Vivian Snipes Main Stage theatre can get pretty cold. It’s a good idea to bring a sweater or additional layers with you!
For more on planning your visit to LCT, click here.
About Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is a dramatic adaption by Karen Abbott of the book by John Steptoe, based on an African folktale. We are guided by Chinouyazue, the storyteller, as he retells the events that happened after the King announces his search for a bride. Mufaro’s daughters, Manyara and Nyasha, must travel half a day’s journey to get to the town where the King lives in his palace. As they make their way through the forest, they encounter several different people. What the sisters don’t know is that these encounters are tests, and they will be used to show the king who the women are at their core, be that good or bad, and where their hearts truly lie. Manyara and Nyasha learn more about themselves in the forest than they knew before. They uncover the origin of true beauty, it comes from within.
This play is a great way to spark conversations about heritage and the value of kindness. Mufaro has taught his daughters to be kind and respectful of everyone, human or not. We see from the very beginning that Nyasha is willing to put her personal needs and obligations to the side to make her sister feel better. She makes this sacrifice even after Manyara has been less than kind to her. Family is very important to Mufaro, as he does all he can to take care of his beautiful daughters, and it is clear that he has passed those qualities onto Nyasha. This story teaches us a great lesson of treating everyone the way that we would want to be treated. It also reminds us of the weight of our words and actions and that we can choose whether we want to have a positive or negative impact on others. While we know that being kind and helpful doesn’t always mean we will marry a handsome King, it does mean that we will form friendships and meaningful connections, and that is what we all desire.
We love this story because it encourages self-love and confidence. We all need reminders that our kindness and consideration of others is appreciated, even when it doesn’t immediately seem that way. Participating in random acts of kindness often leads to having a positive attitude and ultimately a more secure sense of self. Much like everyone deserves to be treated with respect, we also deserve to have loving and positive thoughts about ourselves.