Blackstage Theater Company has done it again with their production of “Fabulation,” a play about love, family and lies.
Written by renowned playwright Lynn Nottage, “Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine” tells the story of a successful New York publicist’s return to her roots. After her husband leaves her (taking the contents of her bank account with him), she is forced to return to her working-class family in Brooklyn. She hasn’t seen these relatives in years and has since completely reinvented herself. But now she’s back and she’s broke, dependent on the insufficient social services system just to get by.
It’s an incredibly timely story in this era of decreasing support for social services. Every audience member is confronted with the drama of bureaucracy as Undine seeks unemployment benefits and access to healthcare and is arrested over a misunderstanding. As a privileged Stanford student, I find it a necessary wake-up call to watch as Undine’s sense of entitlement collides with the government institutions that are ostensibly meant to support Americans. Instead of getting what she wants, she gets a firsthand understanding of the ways in which the system works against low-income people, particularly people of color. Nottage offers an original perspective on the intersections of class and race by turning her bourgeois protagonist into an unmarried, unemployed, pregnant black woman forced to confront the lies she told to distance herself from that reality.
This riches-to-rags story resonates with director Brandon Jackson ’12. Like Undine, he created a new persona once he arrived at Stanford — the land of luxury cars and affirmative action for legacy students. A first-generation college student from a working-class family, Jackson recalls fabricating an elaborate story when asked about his parents’ jobs. His mother, an operator at AT&T, became a senior manager.
“Fabulation” starts strong and fast, and it keeps you engaged all the way through. It’s a hilarious show — Nottage’s talent shines through her witty dialogue and surprising plot twists. Saroya Whatley ’11 delivers an incredible performance as Undine, the story’s protagonist. She made her acting debut earlier this year in the Drama Department’s production of “No Child…,” a one-woman show about the tragedy and beauty of America’s public schools. I had high expectations after seeing “No Child…,” and she does not disappoint. Whatley is supported by a stellar cast in “Fabulation,” featuring particularly exciting performances from Yvorn “Doc” Aswad ’11 and Justin Michael Reed.
The play mediates on the importance of remembering one’s roots, a theme that is “extremely personal” to Jackson. “I don’t know what your story is or how that compares to the one you’ve been telling other folk,” he writes, “but, no matter where you’ve come from, or where you are right now, your story is worth telling, and don’t you dare forget it!”
“Fabulation” runs through Saturday.