The Ugly One
Written by Marius von Mayenburg
Directed by Seth Bockley
at Oracle Theatre, 3809 N. Broadway (map)
thru Nov 20 | tickets: $20-$25 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Playful satire deconstructs conformity, celebrity worship
Sideshow Theatre presents
The Ugly One
Review by Lawrence Bommer
In Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” Gregor Samsa wakes up to find he’s a cockroach: Suddenly his claims to human dignity and rights are undermined by six legs and a carapace. Likewise, employing gallows humor and deadpan irony, German playwright Marius von Mayenburg delivers a 65-minute parable on the relativity of beauty, a clever exercise that fares well in Sideshow Theatre Company’s Chicago premiere.
Alas, Lette’s looks are so perfect that in no time everyone wants to look like him—and, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to copyright his gorgeous features. So, going under the knife in order to feel good by looking great, slowly everyone undergoes the same operation–until Lette’s once-rare perfection has been cloned everywhere.
But, as W.S. Gilbert wrote, “When everyone is somebody, then no one’s anybody.” The rich 73-year-old doyenne and her gay son who once adored him now find Lette dismissively familiar. Well, of course–when the supply increases, the demand diminishes. What for Lette is an identity crisis triggered by his inability to distinguish himself from everyone else becomes for the rest of the world an explosion in contagious narcissism.
So beauty, an abstraction that couldn’t be more specific, remains in the beholder’s eye—both entirely subjective and non-negotiable.
 
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Seth Bockley’s crisp staging varies the lighting levels to distinguish the domestic scenes from the medical and corporate ones. Rightly, the actors refuse to become one inch deeper than they’re written. Robert L. Oakes plays Lette with a Candide-like naivete that makes him a blank slate on which everyone writes what they want and sees what they desire. Nina O’Keefe efficiently plays his wife, the rich old lady and the surgeon’s assistant—all named Fanny since this is a world of interchangeable parts. Likewise, as the same Schefller, Fred A. Wellisch plays Lette’s reptilian boss and Teutonic surgeon, while as Karlmann, Nate Whelden is both the gay son who craves Lette as well as his assistant.
A play that’s exactly as long as it needs to be, The Ugly One threatens to become a 21st century “Frankenstein” but finally breaks no barriers. Still, it uses a sprightly playfulness to archly deconstruct society’s contradictory extremes of conformity and celebrity worship. It’s a satire that earns its stage.
Rating: ★★★
The Ugly One continues through November 20th at Oracle Theatre, 3809 N. Broadway (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are $20-$25, and are available in advance through Tix.com. More information at SideshowTheatre.org. (Running time: 65 minutes without an intermission)
artists
cast
Robert L. Oakes, Nina O’Keefe, Fred Wellisch and Nate Whelden
behind the scenes
Marius von Mayenburg (playwright); Seth Bockley (director); Maja Zade (translator); Megan A. Smith (asst. director); Taree Chadwick (stage manager); Joe Schermoly (scenic design); Izumi Inaba(costumes); Mac Vaughey (lighting); Christopher M. LaPorte (sound, original music); Katie Clarkson (props); Gina Di Salvo (dramaturg); Benjamin Dawson (prod. manager); Navi Afshar (asst. prod. manager); Laura Nessler (asst. dramaturg)
