
"Fable is a beautiful masterclass in sisterhood,
family, and truth above all else.
Brilliantly Directed by Eric Davis, Fable is a marvel."
– Drew Eberhard, BroadwayWorld
Eugene O'Neill semi-finalist, 2021
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SYNOPSIS
Fable is a play about memory, legacy, and the battle over storytelling. Who has the right to tell your story—especially when two legendary show business sisters remember it differently?
June Havoc was famously antagonistic about Gypsy, the Broadway musical her sister, Gypsy Rose Lee, called her legacy. But in Fable, a fable about the making of that musical fable, their sisterly bond is tested in a mounting clash of fiction and truth. As June — now aging and confronting her own mortality — relives rehearsals, dressing rooms, and backstage conflicts, she fights to reclaim her narrative before it’s rewritten forever.
"I think it is absolutely brilliant. It's the appeal Gypsy has that Doug capitalizes on and brings forth in a very delicious way."
– Lane Bradbury, "Dainty June," Gypsy, 1959
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author's note
I never met June Havoc, but I did speak to her many times when she'd call
Abingdon Theatre Company, where I worked as Marketing Director.
One morning June called, and oh, was she in a mood. An(other) upcoming revival of Gypsy had her quite stressed, and she was going to talk to anyone who'd answered the phone. I knew about her antipathy towards the show. I'd read about her efforts to stop it from being done at all; indeed, we'd all been instructed never to bring up the subject of Gypsy with her in any conversation. But this was different: she brought the subject up herself. And while I listened to her raging, for the first time, I realized how deeply the show troubled her, even all those years later. She felt – and rightly so – her own life and reputation was misrepresented, and her legacy cemented in a fable that would never go away.
Fable. A Fable About A Musical Fable was born out of that conversation. And while I would never lay claim to any truth-telling in this play – it is, after all, entitled Fable – I cannot deny that June, like her mother and her sister, was a bit of a fable spinner herself. But I hope I at least shine a spotlight on her side of the story and entertain you at the same time.
Video created by Julia Rifino; used courtesy of freeFall Theatre