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America The Beautiful - Chapter 1

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 2 Published: 12 Mar 2026 King's Head Pub and Theatre Show Dates: 9 Mar 2026-21 Mar 2026

Heralded as a “sensational UK premiere”, it is hard to imagine that this first trio of plays in the trilogy, America the Beautiful, comes from the pen of Neil LaBute, the man who gave us In the Company of Men and The Shape of Things.

A lamentably uninspiring event

To be clear, there are nine works branded as an “exclusive collection of savage short plays offering a uniquely skewed view of life and relationships in the modern world”. They were “written over the past decade for the LaBute New Theater Festival in the US” and are now presented for the first time in three groups of three, produced by Greenwich Theatre for the King’s Head as an initial venture in their new partnership. Described as “chapters”, the first two are being performed at the King’s Head Theatre, while the third can be seen at Greenwich Theatre. The hyperbole surrounding the works continues with a description of chapter one as “a blistering trio of short plays from Neil LaBute that take a radical, bitter view of modern relationships”.

Snippets from the conversation between the lovers in Hate Crime suggest that they are up to no good, plotting the demise of pretty boy’s soon-to-be husband in order to make an insurance claim. The stilted, bland and vague dialogue leaves us trying to put the pieces together after an argument about a lost key card to the hotel room, that turns out not to be lost, and a question as to whether Danish pastries come from Denmark (they don’t) and if one filled with cheese is a legitimate variety (only in the USA!). Borris Anthony York is annoyingly coquettish as he wiggles and poses around the room in shorts and a vest, in stark contrast to Liam Jedele’s sinister revelling in the gruesome details of what he will do to the victim to make it look like a hate crime. Then the pair separate, vowing not to meet until the deed is done.

In the solo work, Kandahar, York impressively transforms himself into a decorated soldier who served in Afghanistan. He’s seated in the dock, although it could just as easily be a confessional, having taken revenge on his wife and committed several murders motivated by the adultery she committed with a fellow soldier. His static and protracted story and rationale for the crime are almost interesting, even if the conclusion is predictable, but the telling lacks the heightened angst, torment and tension one might hope for in such a tragic tale.

With two down and one to go, it’s the turn of the two female actors, Anna María and Maya-Nika Bewley, to assume the stage and give Artistic Director of Greenwich Theatre, James Haddrell, one last chance to make something of LaBute’s writing. The Possible pits a lesbian who has sex on multiple occasions with the boyfriend of the woman she is obsessed with in order to teach her a lesson, in the hope that it will bring the two of them together. Finally we see some emotional engagement in the midst of this unlikely scenario, and moments of humour lighten the improbable situation. It too has a predictable outcome and, while in no way being exceptional, it is the saving grace in a lamentably uninspiring event.

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The Blurb:

America The Beautiful - Chapter 1

By Neil LaButeAn exclusive collection of savage short plays

In this sensational UK premiere from the writer of In The Company Of Men and The Shape Of Things comes an exclusive collection of savage short plays offering a uniquely skewed view of life and relationships in the modern world. 

Written over the past decade for the Labute New Theater Festival in the US, these shorts are here brought together for the first time and for a strictly limited run, produced by Greenwich Theatre for the King's Head. “There is no writer on the planet these days who is writing better than Neil Labute” (The New Yorker).

Chapter One | 9–14 March The first chapter of America The Beautiful opens with a blistering trio of short plays from Neil LaBute that take a radical, bitter view of modern relationships.Hate CrimeAn illicit meeting in a hotel room hides a dark secret. KandaharA shocking view of an army base shooting and the circumstances that drove one man over the edge. The PossibleShe’ll do anything to secure the girl of her dreams, but what’s really possible?