Reasons To Be Pretty
February 12, 2011
Neil LaBute's uncanny ability to sift through our culture with eagle eyes and owl-sharp ears can be breath-taking. It is not surprising his play, Reasons To Be Pretty, the third in his trilogy of how our culture worships "the young and the beautiful" reached Broadway. Not necessarily a comfortable play, but definitely an honest one that Paragon currently presents.
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Paragon Theater's Reasons to be Pretty
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Under the astute and perceptive direction of Holly Ann Peterson, the formidable cast grabs hold of LaBute's intensions living their working class roles with exhaustive insight.
Reasons To Be Pretty points a sharpened spot light on how powerful words can be, how cutting, how hurtful, how damaging, even when they are thrown over the shoulder in an off-hand comment. The very word pretty frequently sends shivers down the nape of the neck when referenced to someone other than the person hearing the word. Strange concept, since what is pretty to one person may not necessarily be pretty to another. People ask friends, and non-friends alike, if they don't think their dress is pretty, although in observation it may look out of place, too big, too small, an off-the-wall color, and even out of style. Are we honest? Sometimes yes, sometimes, not. Better to agree and keep a friend than disturb the so-called pleasant surroundings. To a guy, a girl might be "hot-fully" pretty, and to another girl may be anything but.
Consciousness of looks gets so out of whack; who else but LaBute has the courage to parade the concept on stage? Such is the case with four friends. When Greg (Brandon Kruhm) throws an off-hand comment to his friend, Kent (David Cates) who has become mesmerized over a new girl at work, the over the shoulder comment gets back to Greg's girlfriend, Steph, (Desiree Gagnon). She takes it to heart, exploding in his face, with a tirade of the "F" word, without giving him a chance ot explain. Gagnon catches the eye. She isn't just yelling. There's power behind her words, reflected in her eyes that pierce her soul from a deep hurt. Greg looks out through Kruhm's eyes with confused "stunningness". He said he had just mentioned that Steph's face was regular. He didn't say she was ugly. When girls aren't considered pretty, they immediately assume they must be ugly.
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Paragon Theater's Reasons to be Pretty
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OK, granted the use of the infamous "F" word gets old for those of us who don't use it much. Reasons To Be Pretty is a segment of our culture, not the entire culture. These are working class people with a working class sensibility. To be true to them, and their predicament, it would be a huge mistake to erase the word from their vocabulary. If LaBute had ignored the use, he could not have been true and honest with his purpose for his people. The four characters would have fallen short, the play would not have reached Broadway, and anyone who saw it would wonder what was wrong with the characters, "they aren't real".
This isn't to say, and LaBute; certainly isn't implying that all working class citizens are unsophisticated. Many are highly educated and doing what they want to do because they like it. LaBute doesn't go after all working class. He has brought into focus four specific individuals who are as alive and vital as people we see on the street day after day. Kruhm, Steph, Kent and Lauren Bahlman who plays Carly, Kent's wife, allow the characters to intrude, taking their rightful place in this scenario. Had Greg thought about it, he might have mentioned his conversation with Kent to Steph and at the same time reassured her of how important she was to him. It just wasn't one of those comments one thinks about twice, although LaBute suggests maybe we should. There's no question in Kruhm's Greg he undoubtedly wished he had. No, Steph had to hear the comment from Carly. What Carly said and how she said it isn't really clear, and doesn't need to be. What Steph heard is what's important, which is always the case in a repeated conversation. Brings to mind the childhood game of Gossip, and how we laughed as words and phrases got turned upside down. In real life, however, words turned upside down and sideways aren't near as funny. They bite. In Steph's case the words become a deal breaker. The deal-breaker, in turn, bites Greg.
Taylor Dykstra's set design works wonderfully in the long rectangular stage allowing the characters to move easily from Greg and Steph's apartment, to the Break Room at work, to the Mall, to a restaurant, and a ball field smoothly and without confusion. Evan Roby's lighting design attacks the scenes with sharp focus, and Jarrad Holbrook's Sound design fill in the cracks to put the audience at a plate glass window through which everything can be easily and "uncomfortably" observed,
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Paragon Theater's Reasons to be Pretty
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There are moments when one wants to shake Steph, tell her to take a step back and listen. There are times when one wants to slap Greg and insist he speak up. Kent's obsession over the "new girl" takes him down a path he's going to wish he never took. But then is it these people we want to shake and slap, or is it ourselves? LaBute may zero in on four specific working class people, but he speaks to the entire culture. Words may be different in varied spectrums, but the carelessness of words and prejudged conflicts of pretty, can do just as much damage if one just says "Golly, Gee Whiz".
The flighty off-hand comment destroys Greg and Steph's relationship, also interfering with Greg and Kent, as well as slipping into cracks between Kent and Carly. Somehow. Kent's obsession with this pretty new girl cuts into his sense of masculinity, and he finds he has something to prove. Now what?
Paragon's cast and crew have done an admirable job of giving LaBute voice to this vitally important play. It may burn the ears a tad, but the cast doesn't back down and doesn't apologize. They give their heart and soul to this brilliantly written script. Because of where it goes and why it goes, Reasons To Be Pretty should not be missed. It brings to consciousness how powerful our words are no matter how casual or off-hand they might be. We never know who is going to repeat what to whom, much less how. And, as they say, "pretty is as pretty does . . .
Reasons To Be Pretty
By Neil LaBute; Directed by Holly Ann Peterson
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