Friday, 11 November 2011

Reasons To Be Pretty review, Almeida

Neil LaBute's new play Reasons To Be Pretty is presented as an examination of beauty, but what it really examines is beauty as a function of happiness; of being valued. When Steph learns that boyfriend Greg has referred to her 'regular features', she explodes. In his harmless and well-meaning frankness, he has revealed a flaw at the heart of their relationship: a complacency in which passion and appreciation have been superseded by assumptions and a lack of care. 

Sexual squealing
Reasons To Be Pretty opens with their row. It is awesomely good. The ferocity is splintering. There are cracking confrontations across the whole two hours. Sian Brooks is glorious as hairdresser Steph whose world implodes when best friend Carly - Billie Piper in cop suit and heels - snitches on Greg. Carly glows with the confidence of a woman who's revered. In the works canteen her husband Kent eulogises her face and backside to a bewildered Greg who asks why, when he adores his wife, Kent is sleeping with cute Crystal in the main office? My life was perfect, Kent explains, and now it's more than perfect. Poor, puzzled, straight-talking Greg.

What's riveting in this gritty portrayal of sexual politics is the disconnect between the sexes. There is no right or wrong, just a wasteland between them to be constantly renegotiated. By the end of the play Steph is transformed - because she's finally seeing herself reflected back through the eyes of a man who loves her. Careworn Carly, meanwhile, diminishes in beauty as her husband's interest wanes. As for the men; well, they're men. 

In conclusion: You can skim the surface with LaBute or dig deep and keep finding treasure - he works at all levels. Tom Burke is beautifully nuanced as Greg and Keiran Bew is an intimidating Kent in Michael Attenborough's fiery production. 

References
Almeida Theatre, tickets

Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London N1 1TA   This run has now finished.


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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous14 November 2011 at 14:55

    I switched off during the hysterical shouting and swearing in the first scene and not sure if I recovered much from it, thereafter. I agree with your observation that this play can be enjoyed at all levels but I am not sure if this production does enough to give depth to the big themes.

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  2. Shyama14 November 2011 at 22:21

    It is a pretty excoriating opening, but so telling. Looking in from the outside you realise how futile the raging is - Steph does too, which is what's fuelling the fire and her sense of utter hopelessness, nothing in her armoury can elicit Greg's understanding or the right response - but it's about deeper issues that can't be properly articulated. What I most enjoyed about the play was that it explored the different frameworks that men and women create around their relationships, a large part of which is selfish and, more often than we admit, based on a romantic fantasy for which there is no evidential basis. The stuff about looks was almost incidental. I liked your review:)

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  3. chewinthefatfish15 November 2011 at 13:22

    Yeh, an excellent review.

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