By Rose Cohen ’22 & Emma Watkins ’23
A&E Editor and A&E Editor; Copy Chief
Promotional flyer for ‘Fabulation’. Image courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Film, Media, and Theater department.
The Mount Holyoke College department of film, media and theater will open Lynn Nottage’s 2004 play, “Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine,” on Thursday, Oct. 21. The show will run until Sunday, Oct. 24 and will be directed by visiting lecturer in film, media and theater Michael Ofori, who teaches acting, “as well as various other courses in interdisciplinary arts and African theater and performance,” according to his staff biography.
Described on the film, media and theater website as a “satirical take on classic American self-reinvention tales,” “Fabulation” is sure to be comical, yet poignant, telling the story of an African American woman who deals with multiple stressors after being left by her husband, who embezzled all of her money.
After almost a year and a half without live theater, “Fabulation” will open Rooke Theater’s 2021-2022 season.
“We are excited to be back on campus to share this theatrical experience with the Mount Holyoke community again,” Ofori stated, expressing the film, media and theater department’s eagerness to return to live performance.
With “Fabulation,” the film, media and theater community has an opportunity to highlight a plethora of BIPOC actors on campus. “The film, media and theat[er] department is also engaging in conversations about anti-racist practices. A part of that work inspired the selection of this play,” Ofori explained in a recent email to the Mount Holyoke News.
“Our campus is littered with an array of incredibly talented BIPOC actors and I’m glad that this play is going to introduce many of them to our community. I hope that more BIPOC students find the opportunity to act or see themselves represented on stage,” Ofori stated.