Her Portmanteau, co-produced by Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective at Central Square Theater, Cambridge, through April 20. 617-576-9278 or centralsquaretheater.org

Mfoniso Udofia is a playwright whose intriguing Ufot Cycle is proving as challenging to Boston area theaters as the family on which it focuses. Raised in Massachusetts and educated at Wellesley College and the American Theatre Conservatory, the Nigerian- American dramatist has tapped into her own background as well as her family's in nine plays being staged locally through next year — beginning with "Sojourners" and "The Grove," already handsomely produced by Huntington Theatre. The fourth play in the cycle — "Her Portmanteau" (the third "runboyrun" has been heard on a podcast) — is receiving a strong co-production by Central Square Theater and the Front Porch Arts Collective.

Although each of the plays in the cycle can be regarded as individual efforts, "Her Portmanteau" absorbingly develops the stories of characters first introduced in "Sojourners" and "The Grove." As with Udofia's own family, the Ufots immigrate to Houston, Texas in the 1970's (1978 in the first play) and move to Worcester in the second (here in 2009). Centering on family reunion, confrontation and possible reconciliation, "Her Portmanteau" brings together conflicted mother Abasiama Ufot and her two very different daughters with different fathers —gay New York-based Adiaha (meaning eldest in the Nigerian language Ibibio) and Nigeria-raised Iniabasi Ekpeyong. Iniabasi proves the pivotal character as her visit at Adiaha's homey apartment (well detailed and colorfully set by designer Shelley Barish) becomes a war of words with seething resentments involving the half-sisters and their Worcester-based mother.

While "Her Portmanteau" may sometimes seem less vocally showy than its predecessors, Udofia's disarming drama ends up offering timely insights about family understanding and love as well as respect for cultural differences. The plays clever title can have as much to do with Abasiama's emotional baggage as with her mother's connection to the daughter's red suitcase and telling photos she brings on her visit. Abasiama speaks of her own son Kufre — the subject of the fifth play in the cycle "Kufre n' Quay" — expected to be staged this coming July. As in the earlier plays, the characters speak a fair amount of Ibibio — especially in heated exchanges. Some theatergoers may wish that the companies staging Udofia's plays would provide translating surtitles or playbill explanations of the gist of these conversations. Even so — particularly as characters respond in English — audience members are likely to discern the nuances of such exchanges.

Under Tasia A. Jones' thoughtful direction, the play's journey from initial misunderstanding and emotional distance to potential common ground is vividly portrayed by the co-production's talented cast. Jade A. Guerra finds all of Iniabasi's early contentiousness and puzzlement as well as her gradual softening towards her welcoming sister and her conflicted mother. Lorraine Victoria Kamyike captures Adiaha's ongoing outreach to her sister while never losing sight of the character's complicated relationship with her mother. Patrice Jean-Baptiste catches Abasiama's tenacity as well as her vulnerability in searching for full understanding from her daughters. Costume designer Chloe Moore artfully reflects the degrees to which the characters' clothes demonstrate their respective attitudes about American and Nigerian cultural differences.

As with the title suitcase, "Her Portmanteau" could do with a careful examination by the playwright — especially to pack more detail about the sisters' respective challenges regarding work and life. Still, the plays staged thus far from the Ufot Cycle establish Udofia as a significant voice — one that is adding an important measure of excitement to the Boston theater scene.