It has become a trope of a certain type of made-for-TV movie for the successful, career-driven woman in the Big City to have to return home to her humble beginnings and learn the true meaning of happiness (usually with the assistance of a hunky Everyman). But none of them look anything like two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage’s hilarious and biting Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine—a modern classic currently being brought to life in new, superbly dynamic production by Mosaic Theater Company of DC to kick off its fifth season.
Originally premiering Off-Broadway in 2004, Fabulation shows a more humorous—although no less cutting in its own way—side of Nottage’s work, seemingly a world away from those of Ruined and Sweat, which earned her the honor of being the only woman to win two Pulitzers. But under its comically over-the-top veneer, the play has plenty to say about race, class, and family, while also implicating the audience for its own prejudices in the process.
Fabulation centers on the successful, Dartmouth-educated, African-American publicist Undine Barnes Calles (a captivating Felicia Curry), who we first see ruthlessly taking her young assistant to task and wheeling and dealing in her Manhattan office. Within minutes, however, she’s brought low by news that her husband, Hervé (a hilarious Carlos Saldaña) has run off with her money, leaving her broke, pregnant, and alone. Deemed a pariah and abandoned by her high-society friends, Undine is forced to return to her working-class family (who she previously told the world had all perished in a fire) in Brooklyn.
From there, Nottage’s script takes us on a journey through a range of stereotypes about race and economic status—from a heroin-shooting grandma to a teenage mother in a clinic—but she masterfully complicates each archetype, both playing it for laughs and using it as an accusation.
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Nottage knew who she was writing for—a predominantly white, upper-middle class theatre-going audience—and she plays with our assumptions and then challenges our preconceived notions all within a few short lines. Under the deft direction of Eric Ruffin, this cast is able to masterfully hit all these nuances while still eliciting belly-laughs.
Curry, as Undine, is an undeniable star. In a series of direct addresses to the audience, she reels us in from the jump. Her ability to convey a tapestry of emotions with a single quivering of her lips—even in a space the size of the Lang Theatre at the Atlas Performing Arts Center—is astounding. Not to be outdone, the rest of the cast (comprised of Saldaña, Aakhu TuahNera Freeman, William T. Newman, Jr., Lauryn Simone, Kevin E. Thorne II, James Whalen, and Roz White) demonstrate their versatility as they each inhabit a wide array of roles. When they come together for scene changes reminiscent of a Yoruba ritual (under the movement direction of Rashida Bumbray), they truly make magic.
Speaking of versatility, Andrew Cohen’s set design allows for the creation of a wide array of different locations using little more than a desk/table. John D. Alexander’s lighting design, Moyenda Kulemeka’s costumes, and Cresent R. Haynes’ sound design combine to enhance the experience without distracting from it. Pretty much everything about this production is top-notch.
Fabulation closes September 22, 2019. Details and tickets
Can we ever escape our past? Should we? How does having money change a person, and what happens when those funds are suddenly take away? These are a few of the questions asked by Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine. At a time when much more overtly political (and less subtle) works are dominating Washington’s stages, it’s refreshing for Mosaic to remind us that a little bit of comedy helps the medicine—in this case, very real and important discussions of systemic racism and economic inequality in America—go down.
Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage. Directed by Eric Ruffin. Featuring Felicia Curry, Carlos Saldaña, Aakhu TuahNera Freeman, William T. Newman, Jr., Lauryn Simone, Kevin E. Thorne II, James Whalen, and Roz White. Set designer: Andrew Cohen. Lighting designer: John D. Alexander. Costume designer: Moyenda Kulemeka. Sound designer: Cresent R. Haynes. Props designer: Willow Watson. Movement consultant: Rashida Bumbray. Rhythm/musical consultant: Christylez Bacon. Dialect coach: Kim James Bey. Dramaturg: Faedra C. Carpenter. Stage managers: April E. Carter and Laurel VanLandingham. Assistant director: Jared Smith. Produced by Mosaic Theater Company of DC. Reviewed by John Bavoso.
John, I agree Fabulation was very strong. Well, maybe the first few moments i thought this was going to be filled with cliche TV sitcom writing. But then Lynn Nottage is a very smart and powerful writer and pushes herself and us all to blast through the stereotypes time and again. The play soon gets thorny, biting, funny, raging and ranging. And it was most interestingly reinvented by director Eric Ruffin with African percussion and ritual used as transitions. In certain moments in this production, it reminded me of August Wilson’s integrating premise, where the “journey back to the ancestors” provided the key to wholeness and fulfillment.
The ensemble was terrific and worked hard and well with all the choreography and quick character
changes. I watched the stellar actress Felicia Curry do the equivalent of “go back, reclaim the past, and if your drop the ball, pick it up.”