Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

The Ugly One

 
Paul Fisher Cockburn Review by Paul Fisher Cockburn 4 Published: 10 Jul 2019 Tron Theatre Show Dates: 4 Jul 2019-20 Jul 2019

At first glance, The Ugly One looks somewhat clinical. Becky Minto’s set is a mixture of white and grey blocks, the only colour coming from small fruit bowls placed on plinths on either side of the stage. There’s a conveyor belt to the rear, suggesting industry but lacking the oily dirt of machinery. When the cast appears, one by one, bringing on clear plastic seats, they’re uniformly dressed in suits—albeit pastel-coloured suits.

Laugh-out-loud funny.

Yet the tone of the next 75 minutes is clear from how the cast walk on, posturing and eyeing up the audience, daring us to laugh. And, we do; what follows is laugh-out-loud funny, with an ensemble skilled in teasing the most from their roles through body posture, facial expressions or dialogue. The situation is ridiculous, and is abstractly presented; yet we quickly accept Lette as a man who’s boss considers him too ugly to sell his invention (a new type of high voltage connector), a man who’s only married because his wife never looks him full in the face.

Martin McCormick is up to the job of making us care about Lette, whose (fruitily portrayed) plastic surgery procedure changes him from being the ugliest man in the world to the most handsome… someone whose features are so entrancing that he can arouse anyone while going through the technical specifications of his connector. That he achieves this switch with pretty much nothing more than some added sparkly lipstick is remarkable, although McCormick’s undoubtedly supported by the assured comedic skills of Michael Dylan, who does double duty as Lette’s jealous assistant Karlmann and a rich old lady’s “awkward”, sex-obsessed son.

Sally Reid plays both Lette’s apologetic wife and the aforementioned rich old lady with just the right level of impact, on occasions switching between the two at the drop of a feather bower. Helen Katamba, meantime, shifts effortlessly between stereotyped northern boss and the surgeon whose new technique becomes a global success. All the performances are, necessarily, broadly done: there’s not much subtlety to be found in lines such as “The fact is that you’re unspeakably ugly.” But, under Debbie Hannan’s excellent direction, the story is sharply told, and comes with all the speed you expect from the best Farces.

Importantly, of course, this isn’t just about the laughs; playwright Marius von Mayenburg is taking on significant topics ranging from a loss of personal identity, the pitfalls of success and the cult of celebrity, and it’s clear that Maja Zade has done a great job translating the original into English. When an emotionally disintegrating Lette is on the brink of taking his own life, we’re emotionally committed to his situation. Just as we should be.

Related to this article:

Location:

Performances

The Blurb:

Lette thought he was normal. He's the inventor of an incredible new electric plug but, when his boss tells him he can't go to a convention to announce his product to the world because he is unspeakably ugly, Lette's confidence is, understandably, rattled. When even his wife concurs, Lette resorts to plastic surgery—“I wouldn’t know where to start,” confesses the doctor. Once the bandages are removed, Lette learns that there is such a thing as being TOO beautiful. Everyone wants a piece of him. And to look like him. As unforeseen hysteria unfolds, he is forced to confront some very ugly truths. “The Ugly One” is a hilarious, fast-moving and scalpel-sharp comedy about external beauty and identity and the brutality of capitalism.