Is it perverse to describe a play called "The Ugly One" as beautiful? Well, tough, because this beautifully, simply staged production does a beautiful job of exploring the deep ramifications of society's preoccupation with beauty. In some ways, it covers the same ground as Neil LaBute's Fat Pig or even of Beauty and the Beast, but the writing is as sharp as a surgeon's blade and the humour is black and biting. And how brilliant is to present an antiseptic set and to use no props in a play that's all about appearance? The success of this play depends upon the acting, and the cast in this DMV Theatre Collective production
delivers---yes---beautifully.
To January 29, North Street Church, 5657 North Street, 8pm, $20/$15, 497-2290