 |
| Chris Petty and Megan Marie Brown in Reasons To Be Pretty. Photo – The Bard's Town. |
Reasons To Be Pretty
By Neil LaBute
Directed by Doug Schutte
Review by Rachel White
Entire contents are copyright ©2013 Rachel White.
All rights reserved.
Reasons to Be Pretty opens on a shouting
match between two lovers: Greg (Doug Schutte) and Stephanie (Cara McHugh), his
girlfriend. The play, written by Neil LaBute, uses highly-realistic dialogue to
capture the out-of-control nature of arguments like these and of relationships
in general. It’s not a typical theater fight you’ll witness, or a carefully
drawn comical sitcom fight; it is a drag-out fistfight with words, and the
actors pull it off in a way that feels authentic. Emotional arguments between
humans that involve hurt feelings can be ugly things. They don’t contain a nice
climax and resolution, they don’t wax poetic or philosophical, and sometimes
the “F” bomb suffices when there is nothing left to be said. In this case, the
fight goes on and on, getting louder, twisting and turning, while the
characters involved cling onto any mean hurtful barb they can reach. It’s a
true jolt of an opening for a play. There is no beginning to this argument;
it’s as though we happen in on the middle of it, like watching it through an apartment
window and trying to piece together what has happened.
What we learn through the snatches of information,
amid the snarling, is that Stephanie has heard from a friend that Greg has said
something negative about the way she looks, implying that she is not as pretty
as other girls. It was a stupid comment, but it is something that Stephanie
takes as a personal assault. In her view Greg, of all people, is supposed to
see her as beautiful, and if he doesn’t, what is left between them? What Greg
views as stupid and offhand, Stephanie sees as unforgivable. Greg will spend
the rest of the play kicking himself in a story that tries to grapple with the
problem of beauty and what it means in the context of a relationship.
From there, the play loses some of that
authenticity. It pushes to be a little more philosophical at the expense of
some character and plot development. We
meet the couple’s friends: Kent (Chris Petty), a mean spirited chauvinist; and
his very pretty girl friend, Carly (Megan Brown). Kent seems almost too mean to
be realistic and their relationship feels sketchy in some places. I also feel
like the author lets Greg off a little easy, as though his biggest flaw was his
occasional obliviousness. And maybe it’s my melancholy heart, but he seemed a
bit too satisfied with how things turned out at the end; I didn’t quite buy it.
This seems more of a writer issue than an actor issue. At the same time, the
structure of the piece captures the tumult of a relationship at its end in a
way that rings true. There is one scene
where Steph and Greg meet again accidentally. What begins in friendly
awkwardness escalates into full-out violence. Stephanie literally hits Greg in
the face and then immediately apologizes, horrified by her own lack of control.
The acting is really what pulls you in with this
piece. With less able performers, the play might have descended into screaming
and cursing. But there is realism in the fights and a real pain underneath the
words that the performers are aware of. Schutte is completely believable as the
somewhat hapless Greg, who despite having a nice heart just can’t say the right
thing. McHugh, with her utterly unchecked aggression, is ferocious as Stephanie;
and when she is in a scene, nothing is off the table. Brown and Petty also
deliver spirited emotional performances. The actors find what is original and
dangerous about this work, exploring the damage ordinary people can inflict on
one another.
Reasons To Be Pretty
June 20-23, 27-29 (All shows at 7:30 p.m.)
1801 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40206
502-749-5275
$15 ($12 for students and seniors)
Reserve tickets at thebardstown.com
