Review: “reasons to be pretty” by Neil LaBute. At ArtsWest. Directed by Katjana Vadeboncoeur. With Angela DiMarco, Shawn Law, David S. Hogan and Allison Standly. Now through October 2.
Arts West’s production of Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty is anything but pretty. In fact, the long, overwrought production is a borderline disaster with few redeemable qualities. For a play purporting to display realist conversation between supposed twenty-somethings, this particular production is incredibly jilted and awkward. Clearly, the source material is not the primary issue. reasons to be pretty is a Tony award winning production that was heralded for its realistic dialogue and relatable themes. Most of that magic was missing in the Arts West theater.
As this was a production consisting of just four characters, every actor had a remarkably large amount of stage time. This, as it turns out, is not a good thing. While actors Shawn Law and Allison Standly had adequate portrayals of their respective characters, David S. Hogan was one-note and irritating. Having seen high school productions feature actors who were able to display a respectable emotional range, I was shocked that Hogan was only able to portray the emotional range that, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger does in every single film. It was not good. His performance was completely static, if somewhat over-the-top, throughout the entire play. Hogan seemed to think he was playing to an audience of thousands, as opposed to just a small handful, given the overblown manner in which every single line was delivered.
On the positive side, Angela DiMarco’s portrayal of Steph is moving, engrossing and most importantly, realistic. Whether engaged in a fit of rage, or having a vulnerable breakdown, DiMarco’s choices for her character were believable and realistic. She dominated in every scene she was in and she was the only actor who successfully held my attention for the entire play. DiMarco actually seemed to understand her character’s pain, anger, regret and resentment. She also seemed to understand that acting in a theater that only seats 50 people requires nuanced, rather that soap opera style, acting.
Attempts at humor were awkward at best. I hesitate to blame the script, because the original Broadway production was well-received. Any good production will use every trick possible to suck its audience into its narrative. Every attempt at humor or vulgarity, because of the manner in which it was delivered, completely interrupted the natural flow of the production and often left me wondering “is this over yet”?
As far as the actual material of the production goes, reasons to be pretty is completely anvicilious and redundant. Honestly, I think that a third grader would have understood the supposedly complex themes of this play. Not only was the message boring and easy to grasp, but the play takes the opportunity to drill into the audiences head, over and over again. We get it, Neil LaBute. Honestly, the whole narrative was about as subtle as High School Musical.
Hopefully, Arts West will be able to construct more impressive productions throughout the upcoming season.
-Chris Heide
