PUBLISHED February 12th, 2014 02:23 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 03:18 pm
American playwright Neil LaBute is famous for taking audiences out of their comfort zone. ‘Fat Pig’ is no exception.
In this production by Pangdemonium, LaBute points the finger at men, in particular, Tom, one of the main characters, played by Gavin Yap. Tom, an appealing, young, urban professional, seems to have a bad track record when it comes to dating attractive women. One day, Tom encounters Helen (Frances Lee), a smart, flirtatious woman who is described as ‘plus-sized’. Tom and Helen connect and she gives him her phone number. Tom is genuinely interested, and the two start dating.
Tom falls in love with Helen, who is bright, sexy, funny and confident and the two become a sweetly compatible couple. The only trouble is that Tom has to cope with those at his office who feel that fat women exist to be the butt of their mockery and he is put in the position of having to try to reconcile these two worlds. He finds himself having to defend Helen when he is forced to explain his relationship to his shallow (and shockingly funny) friends.
Cue the other two characters in this drama: Carter (Zachary Ibrahim) and Jennie (Elizabeth Lazan). Carter torments Tom with details about his girlfriend and makes sure that everyone in the office sees how gross she is. Jeannie used to date Tom and is outraged to find that after dumping her, he is dating Helen, who is, in her eyes, a ‘Fat Pig’.
The play explores how society treats the romance between the two and how Tom comes to terms with his own preconceptions of the importance of conventional good looks. It is provocative as it critiques our perception of beauty, which is so strongly influenced by the media, Hollywood and our obsession with ‘thinness’. It questions our own ability to change what we dislike about ourselves and asks if we are brave enough to step away from what’s conventional. There is no kindness or empathy in ‘Fat Pig’.
Neil La Bute is one of America’s hottest and most controversial playwrights. An admirer of Harold Pinter and David Mamet, La Bute has established a reputation as a moral provocateur, with a series of plays and films that shed unflattering light on such human failings as misogyny, superficiality and betrayal. Fat Pig, which was written in 2004 and along with The Shape of Things (2001) and Reasons to be Pretty (2008), form a trilogy of acidic black comedies that examine society’s fixation with physical looks. In these plays, La Bute takes on beguiling questions, such as who decides what is beautiful-or rather, who is beautiful-and what is beauty?
Pangdemonium has built up a reputation for presenting ‘kick-ass’ theatre productions. Past productions have included ‘The Full Monty’, ‘Swimming with Sharks’ and most recently, ‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’. It’s a company that does not shy away from topics such as teenage sex (Spring Awakening) and bipolar disease (Next To Normal). Based on it’s track record, Pangdemonium’s ‘Fat Pig’, directed by Tracie Pang, will be well worth catching. Don’t miss it!
Fat Pig will be on at the DBS SRT Arts Centre from 13 February to 2 March 2014. Tickets available from SISTIC here.