FABULATION

OR THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE

Careful the Tales You Fabulate

(Theater Reviewer: Ron Milovac)

Have you ever felt like pretending your family didn’t exist and invent a whole new identity for yourself? In Iron Street Productions’ Fabulation or the Re-education of Undine, playwright Lynn Nottage explores the possibilities of such an undertaking and the unfortunate events that follow when the deception is discovered.

Undine Barnes-Calles is a successful owner of a public relations firm who hobnobs with the rich and powerful. Born as Sharona Watkins, she moved on up from her humble beginnings in Brooklyn to a deluxe apartment on the East Side. She tells a magazine that her family tragically died in a fire. She marries a smooth-talking tango dancer from Argentina who embezzles all her money and is forced to return to her family. Unfortunately, they ain’t the Huxtables. Her parents and brother work as security guards and her grandmother is a severe diabetic, or so the family believes. Undine soon experiences all the trials and tribulations of the disadvantaged that she had worked so hard to escape – jail, drug counseling and the bureaucracy of the social welfare system.

While giving the audience an education of what life is like for the working class, Nottage gives Undine a redemptive story. The great thing about the play is that the social insights are not told in a preachy way, but with a lot of humor and unexpected turns in the plot. There is also a lot of raw language – something community theaters in this area tend to shy away from. So, if you are easily offended by language, this would not be the play for you.  But it would be a shame, to let that keep you from seeing something so well written, directed and performed. Kudos to Iron Street for taking a chance on a play that is not another version of some 1960’s Neil Simon comedy.

The part of Undine is not an easy one to undertake. She needs to convince us that she can be powerful enough to run a company, and then transform herself to someone in need of the bare necessities of life. On top of that, she never leaves the stage. Fortunately, Le’Royce Bratsveen is up to the challenge. She takes charge of the role from the beginning and never lets us down.

With a cast of 21 people, some are bound to have more experience than others and it shows. Some of the actors need to project and enunciate more clearly, but that should improve over time. Exceptionally good performances are turned in by Aleasha Roberts as Undine’s spunky secretary, Tyneka Flythe in a dual role as her social-climbing best friend and a fellow inmate, Victor Stith as her poetry-spouting brother, Melody Harris as Grandma, Kensa Gilliam as an inmate and her childhood friend, Michael Ream as a recovering cocaine addict and Sylvia Hutson as a doctor and counselor, whose terrific blonde wig seems like a character in itself.

David Adams, in his first time as director, has this large cast under control and keeps the action moving. He wisely sets the stage so that several scenes are on stage at once at different levels, and then further defined by lighting. Scene changes are carefully choreographed seamless transitions. Thanks to Victoria Mathis and Tess L’Hereux for their set and lighting contributions.

Lynn Nottage was the winner of last year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Ruined. If you care about contemporary theater don’t miss your chance to see an area premiere by one of today’s most important writers. Fabulation will make you laugh; it might make you cry. And it will make you think twice about fabulating your own stories.

Fabluation runs through March 28 at the Mary T. Christian Auditorium on the campus of Thomas Nelson Community College.  For ticket pricing and information please visit: www.ironstreetproductions.com