Utah State Theatre Presents 'Reasons to be Pretty' at USU
Cast members from the Utah State University production of "Reasons to be Pretty." Left to right: Kenny Bordieri, Claire Harlan, Christopher Perez and Kelly McGaw. “Reasons to be Pretty” plays Feb. 2-6 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 6 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre (FAC 224) in the Chase Fine Arts Center. Photo by Andrew McAllister
Reasons to be Pretty, a play by Neil LaBute, will take the stage at the Black Box Theatre in the Chase Fine Arts Center at Utah State University Feb. 2-5 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 6 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. The production is presented by Utah State Theatre and the Department of Theatre Arts in the Caine College of the Arts.
Due to strong language and sexual references, Reasons to be Pretty is for mature audiences only.
“I have wanted to direct a Neil LaBute play for a while,” said Adrianne Moore, Theatre Arts Department head and the play’s director. “Our students have been performing scenes from his plays for a long time, but this is the first full-length play by LaBute to be a part of our season.”
LaBute is a Brigham Young University alum who is a screenwriter as well as a playwright. IMDb (Internet Movie Database) says LaBute’s “true-to-life cynical and self-absorbed characters and all-too-true social themes” have firmly established him as an unforgiving judge of the ugliest side of human nature.
“LaBute’s dialog is fluid in its awkwardness,” Moore said. “Watching the play, you feel like you are in a grocery store and happened upon someone bumbling and stumbling their way through a conversation.”
Throughout the play we meet Greg, Steph, Kent and Carly, four young, working-class friends and lovers who become increasingly dissatisfied with their lives and each other. As relationships deteriorate, the friends are forced to confront a web of lies, infidelity and betrayed trust.
LaBute uses relatable, dry humor to make serious situations such as breaking up a romantic relationship and being stuck in a dead-end job funny, Moore said.
“Our society has an obsession about how people look and what others think of us,” she said. “We are always looking for constant validation from our peers. LaBute takes an interest in just how difficult and how fraught this every day communication can be.”
Reasons to be Pretty plays Feb. 2-6 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 6 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre (FAC 224) in the Chase Fine Arts Center on the USU Logan campus (equivalent movie rating “R”). Tickets are $13 adults, $10 seniors/youth, $8 USU faculty/staff and free for USU students with ID. For more information or tickets, contact the CCA Box Office in room L101 of the Chase Fine Arts Center on USU’s Logan campus, call 435-797-8022, or see the Caine College’s Production Services website.
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Writer and contact: Whitney Schulte, 435-797-9203, whitney.schulte@usu.edu
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