Joseph Bombard and Anna Sundberg in reasons to be pretty. Photo by Dan Norman.
Steph is angry. Angry is to put it mildly. Steph is furious, screaming, in a state of howling rage, throwing pillows, stomping around the bedroom, spewing the fuck word and various other obscenities with machine-gun-like abandon. Her boyfriend Greg, the object of her wild fury, does his best to soothe and calm her – and keep out of harm’s way – to no avail.
And the reason for this vitriol? That Greg said to a beer-swilling chum that Steph, in comparison to hot Crystal, has a “regular” face.
And that’s it. Steph’s astonished outrage that Greg finds her unhot, unsexy, unpretty – just “regular” – takes her all the way through Neil LaBute‘s reasons to be pretty (Walking Shadow Theatre Company, performing in the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio, through Oct 2). She leaves Greg. This is a mistake, because Greg, schlub though he may be, genuinely finds Steph striking. He loves looking at her.
But Steph refuses to believe this. She prefers her shrill anger and this obsession on petty prettiness diminishes her. True, there is some genuinely funny stuff in this play, as when Steph whips out a rumpled piece of paper and pronounces, to everyone in the shopping mall food court, on Greg’s physical shortcomings (bald spot, squinty eyes, hairy testicles). Or when Kent, Greg’s slovenly (and married) pal casually announces that he is conducting an affair with hot Crystal.
But this comic flair, along with LaBute’s patented snappy patter, the appealing working class ordinariness of the characters, can’t make up for the fact that reasons to be pretty (the lower case title is LaBute’s preference) lacks the animating nastiness of the playwright’s better efforts. Characters are, as is always the case with LaBute, off-putting, but there isn’t the balancing creepiness that gives his work a visceral, Lord-help-me-I-can’t-look-away interest. Without this, all we have are pettiness and scenes that often lose steam halfway through – through no fault of the actors and the director, who truly do yeoperson work.
Indeed, the actors are all excellent, especially Anna Sundberg as Steph. Sundberg brings a centered and powerful poise to this part and to this she adds genuine passion, energizing every scene she’s in. My only misgiving about her performance is that Sundberg herself is so luminously beautiful; could such a person really doubt that she’s “pretty”? A minor misgiving, this. It’s Sundberg’s play and she dominates, thrillingly.
Joseph Bombard plays Greg with an understated hat-in-hand persona that masks extreme confusion. At the end, when Greg finally makes some life-affirming decisions, we cheer. It’s a terrific performance. Andrew Sass is charming and likable and sweet, in a simian sort of way, even as he cheats on his pregnant wife. As Carly, Kent’s wife, Rachel Finch grew on me. At first I found her stiff and mousey, but as her belly grows, so does her appeal. I was quite moved when she earnestly asks Greg, “Am I safe? Tell me.”
Amy Rummenie, one of Walking Shadow’s co-founders, directs reasons to be pretty with a firm hand.
For more information about John Olive, please visit his website.