In The Ugly One, Jesse Aaron Dwyre and Naomi Wright explore the trappings of society’s obsession with appearance.
The Ugly One, a Tarragon Theatre and Theatre Smash co-production is a rapid-fire, uncomfortably funny satire that I was hungry to eat up. The show is presented in Tarragon’s ExtraSpace, which is re-imagined for this production. Almost the entire playing space is filled with an enormous table that the actors climb all over and which also doubles as a boardroom table, a surgery room, a convention stage, and a bedroom. The audience faces each other on either side of the space. The play begins and ends with an explosive sound effect of slamming doors but what is truly explosive are the fine characterizations of the four actors: Jesse Aaron Dwyre, David Jansen, Hardee T. Lineham and Naomi Wright.
This piece is very stylized and I wasn’t entirely buying it at first but the actors were so committed to their larger than life choices that I was wrapped up in the story in short order.
The Ugly One is very timely, it deals with society’s obsession with appearance, as people try to scramble to the top of their industries and seem to stop at nothing to achieve their goals. The main character Lette (David Jansen) is so ugly that no one can look at his face, including his wife Fanny (Naomi Wright) who is only able to look at his left eye without feeling totally repulsed. Lette, an engineer, has invented an industrial plug but learns that because he is so unspeakably ugly, he will not be presenting his product at sales conventions. Instead, the task goes to the younger and better looking junior at his firm, Karlmann (Jesse Aarom Dwyre).
Lette is convinced by his bumbling boss Scheffler (Hardee T. Lineham) that the only way he will be successful is if he undergoes reconstructive surgery. He goes through with the surgery and ends up looking nothing like his former self. Suddenly his career takes off, woman are lining up to be with him, his wife is all over him like a cat in heat and his face becomes so desirable that the surgeon starts duplicating his face on others. It is interesting to see the transformation of Lette’s personality that seems to follow the change of his physical appearance.
Director Ashlie Corcoran makes this inventive script, written by Maruis von Mayenburg positively dazzle with her bold and imaginative directorial choices. Jason Hand’s bleak lighting design and John Gzowski’s dramatic sound scape complement this daring show.
I loved the way that the audience became part of the production and the device of actors sitting among the audience when they weren’t on stage. My favourite bit was the plastic surgery sequence with sound effects created by Dwyre with common objects and a microphone on the other side of the space. Also, I was impressed by the seamless transition of characters created by Dwyre and Wright, who also played a flaming mama’s boy and an ancient, sex addicted millionairess. At times, they transitioned from one character to the other within seconds.
Like the apples utilized throughout the show and placed on various seats, The Ugly One is juicy and delicious.
The Ugly One plays at Tarragon Theatre through February 16, 2014.
For tickets or more information please visit: www.tarragontheatre.com.
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