Synopses & Reviews
In
Reasons to Be Pretty, Gregs tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhand remarks about a female coworkers pretty face and his own girlfriend Stephs lack thereof get back to Steph. But thats just the beginning. Gregs best buddy, Kent, and Kents wife, Carly, also enter into the picture, and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated. As their relationships crumble, the four friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity, and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?
Neil LaButes bristling new comic drama puts the final ferocious cap on a trilogy of plays that began with The Shape of Things and Fat Pig. Americas obsession with physical beauty is confronted headlong in this brutal and exhilarating work. Neal LaButes most recent works for the stage include This Is How It Goes and Fat Pig, which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off Broadway Play. In Reasons to Be Pretty, Gregs tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhand remarks about a female coworkers pretty face and his own girlfriend Stephs lack thereof get back to Steph. But thats just the beginning. Gregs best buddy, Kent, and Kents wife, Carly, also enter into the picture, and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated. As their relationships crumble, the four friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity, and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?
Neil LaButes bristling comic drama puts the final ferocious cap on a trilogy of plays that began with The Shape of Things and Fat Pig. Americas obsession with physical beauty is confronted headlong in this brutal and exhilarating work. "Like a giant, mischievous child poking a dog with a stick, [LaBute] delights in seeing what he can get away with . . [He's] the bad boy of American theater . . . Devastating and dangerously funny."Jumana Farouky, Time "LaBute['s] judgment of his fellow men makes the Old Testament Jehovah look like a softie . . . His talents go beyond glibly vicious storytelling and extend into thoughtful analysis of a world rotten with original sin."Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"Like a giant, mischievous child poking a dog with a stick, [LaBute] delights in seeing what he can get away with . . [He's] the bad boy of American theater . . . Devastating and dangerously funny."Jumana Farouky, Time
"LaBute takes us to shadowy places we don't like to talk about, sometimes even to think about."Erin McClam, Newsday
Review
"Mr. LaBute is writing some of the freshest and most illuminating American dialogue to be heard anywhere these days."--Ben Brantley, The New York Times
Synopsis
In
Reasons to Be Pretty, Gregs tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhand remarks about a female coworkers pretty face and his own girlfriend Stephs lack thereof get back to Steph. But thats just the beginning. Gregs best buddy, Kent, and Kents wife, Carly, also enter into the picture, and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated. As their relationships crumble, the four friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity, and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?
Neil LaButes bristling new comic drama puts the final ferocious cap on a trilogy of plays that began with The Shape of Things and Fat Pig. Americas obsession with physical beauty is confronted headlong in this brutal and exhilarating work.
About the Author
Neal LaButes most recent works for the stage include This Is How It Goes (Faber, 2005) and Fat Pig (Faber, 2004), which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off Broadway Play.