Chauatuqua Theater Company Guest Artist Sharina Martin, center, as Undine, performs with Conservatory Actors Nicholas Byers, left, and Maria Fernanda Diez during a tech rehearsal of Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine Friday in Bratton Theater. Fabulation, which opens Tuesday, begins previews Sunday in Bratton.
As the second mainstage production of the season, Chautauqua Theater Company is bringing two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and MacArthur “Genius” Lynn Nottage’s acclaimed play, Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine, to the stage.
As a successful Black business owner in New York City, Undine Barnes Calles seems to have it all: money, confidence and a loving husband — until her world comes crashing down.
When her husband disappears, taking all of her fortune and leaving her pregnant, she is forced to return to her family and community in Brooklyn that she once left behind. Spiraling down the social ladder, Undine learns to reconcile with her past in order to build her future.
“We deal with archetypes and unpacking our assumptions around certain archetypes, and satire really disseminates what that conversation is and things that we might take for granted,” said Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll. “It’s a hysterical, larger-than-life and an audacious play that is full of humor.”
Nottage’s play begins previews at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Bratton Theater. It will officially open Tuesday.
For CTC Conservatory Actor Maria Fernanda Diez, who plays Undine’s stylish and hardworking executive assistant Stephie, collaboration and teamwork have been at the heart of the rehearsal process.
“I think what’s really beautiful is everyone in the cast is present and really generous with their time, energy and what they’re giving,” she said.
A New York City-based actor who grew up in Minnesota, Diez sang with the Minnesota Opera for eight years, which sparked a desire to pursue music and theater. She received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University and is also a producer, director and podcaster. Diez, who admires Nottage’s storytelling, feels honored to work on Fabulation, and said getting to play with the story’s satirical tone has been both rewarding and challenging.
“We are trusting the story that Lynn gave us,” she said. “I think that’s what’s incredible about making theater, and we have a lot of trust in each other, in every single role and in every team.”
Because the show uses sharp satire to explore topics such as stereotypes, archetypes, abandonment and family, she said audiences of all backgrounds and communities will leave the theater thinking about pre-conceived surrounding race, gender and class, and she hopes that drives conversations.
Diez said what makes Fabulation especially interesting is Nottage’s thought-provoking one-liners and the way Undine’s character speaks directly to the audience, guiding the story along.
“I hope the audience has fun,” she said. “I hope it makes them think about what we carry with us — whether it’s bias, our own self-exploration of who we are and where we come from — and especially about what Black Americans have to face in the world and in the U.S.”
