Labute Explores Vanity at Studio Theatre

When I rented The Shape of Things several years ago, back when the local rental store was still in business, I thought I was in for a nice, relaxing romantic comedy. Starring Rachel Weisz and Paul Rudd, I knew it would not be entirely vapid either. But by the end of the movie, I wished that I had rented Clueless instead for my dose of Paul Rudd. Instead of being the typical feel-good rom-com, this movie written by Neil Labute provides a stark look at how vanity leads to cruelty. Rachel Weisz plays an art student with whom Paul Rudd falls in love at the beginning of the movie. Thanks to her artistic talents, he goes from rattily dressed professor to sharply dressed dandy. The film's denouement, however, reveals that Weisz's character is using Rudd's in a twisted act of manipulation. I finished the movie feeling despondent, as if I had been tricked as well.

And so I was prepared to see the same kind of cruelty spotlighted in Neil Labute's play, reasons to be pretty in its closing fortnight at the Studio Theatre. (Yes, it insists on lowercase representation.) The conclusion of a trilogy that includes The Shape of Things and Fat Pig, reasons to be pretty does touch on the theme of American's obsession with the superficial, and its undesirable consequences. The play opens with Steph yelling at her boyfriend Greg for telling other people that he thinks her face is ugly. Steph (Margot White) knows this because her best friend Carly (Teresa Stephenson) overheard Greg (Ryan Artzberger) talking to Carly's husband Kent (Thom Miller). After arguing with Greg over what he did or didn't say, Steph ultimately breaks up with him. This scene terrifically asks who the vain one really is - Greg for making a appearance focused remark, or Steph for taking it so much to heart?

In the meantime, Carly and Kent are having their own troubles surrounding vanity. Kent is the stereotypical macho jerk who's cheating on Carly with "the new girl." All we know is that she has a fantastic face, even though Carly is already a knock-out. One joke in this play is "My dad always said, find a hot girl, and you'll find a man who's tired of fucking her." Kent soon involves Greg to deceive Carly. Greg ultimately has control of whether or not Carly finds out. In the scenes where he's alone with Carly because they both work at the same place, we wonder how much responsibility Greg has for Kent's actions. And we wonder how far Carly wants to go to deceive herself.

But Labute is most interested in the origins and purpose of vanity. Though we may think all the characters are shallow for protecting their bruised egos, Labute shows that this obsession with the exterior may be a manifestation of how one feels on the interior. This idea is most fully explored in a final scene when Steph confides in Greg that she wanted him to be someone who would put a ring on her finger, and take care of her. Unfortunately, it took four years of being with him to realize that he would not be able to provide those things. In this moment of confession, we wonder if the "ugly" comment sealed the deal for Steph, or if it was on some level an excuse for her to leave Greg. Did she hurt herself by giving up so easily, or save herself by leaving when she did? The extent to which superficial concerns actually drive decision making is a question that Labute leaves unanswered.