Park Theatre 1st -24th June. Reviewed By Jessica Brady
I was always told ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, but as more modern idea’s of what beauty truly is are at the forefront of most magazines, TV shows and even theatre, it’s hard to know if we as average bodied, non air brushed people are in fact classed as beautiful anymore. Do we succeed if we are not visually appealing to the people that ‘matter’? The Ugly One delves into a world that isn’t too far away from the one we live in now to explore that very question.
The story is focused around Lette [played by Charlie Dorfman] a clever engineer who has all the brains to invent and produce revolutionary things in his line of work and even the charisma to present them. However Lette’s boss, Scheffler [played by T’nia Miller] has recruited Lette’s young and attractive assistant Karlmann [played by Arian Nik] to present the newest invention and stay in a luxurious resort to top it off. Lette is obviously very put out by this and demands to know why he isn’t going to present his work, thus plays the awkward conversation where his boss tells him he is too ugly to do it. Outraged and horrified, Lette goes home to his wife Fanny [played by Indra Ové] to seek comfort but his wife tells him the same thing leaving Lette dejected and with only one real option, surgery. Lette goes under the knife and becomes completely transformed into a mega hunk and becomes more successful, arrogant and begins to take everything for granted including his job and wife. Lette becomes a star and the face that everyone wants, literally, as he has attained a level of beauty now that people associate with success on every level, so people everywhere begin to get the exact same face as him leading to somewhat desperate and bizarre consequences.
Buckland Theatre Company’s production of ‘The Ugly One’ has some very dark satire which at moments is laugh out loud funny but gloriously uncomfortable too which is just as good sometimes. I particularly enjoyed the surgery section of the piece which was demonstrated with a soundscape of a smoothie being made; the sounds alone were enough to give the visual idea without actually having to see a spot of blood and were cleverly done. All four actors were impeccable with their comedy timing and often turned to the audience for little in jokes which in a fairly intimate setting was a nice touch.
The staging was simple but effective, a platform in the centre of the arena theatre setting which images and videos were projected onto it from above. The use of a live recording camera projecting what footage it was getting onto the stage was a great tool that I wish they could have used more of. Costume was basic and represented the characters well until multi-rolling occurred, there was no change of costume but a change in characterisation and a slight lighting state change which at times left the action a little confused as to who was who.
Overall I felt the piece was executed well but I didn’t come out feeling anything had been resolved by the end of the play. The ending is a little bizarre and went in a direction that wasn’t what I had expected, however the performances were great and in particular Arian Nik who makes an excellent professional debut in this.
Despite feeling a little baffled at the end [Which could have been the desired effect, I don’t want to give too much away] the play definitely made me think about identity, beauty standards and what it takes to be successful. The scary prospect that this play tackles is on its way to becoming a reality if it hasn’t hit us already and that on reflection makes me feel quite sad and worried but this is why plays like The Ugly One are important. Go be entertained, challenged, cringed and recognise that this isn’t so far away from the truth of the world today but I still believe beauty is skin deep and its what’s underneath that counts and leads to the kind of success I strive for.