Nick Coleman

Fat Pig
by Neil LaBute

At the Lucille Lortel Theatre, presented by MCC Theater

This show has already closed, so it’s no good trying to see it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t read it or produce it yourself!

I saw this play back in February and LOVED it…I only wish I had written about it sooner and perhaps encouraged a few people to see it.

Cast: Ashlie Atkinson, Jessica Capshaw, Andrew McCarthy, Steven Pasquale
(Jeremy Piven was in the original cast but had already left by the time I saw the show)

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this play, because I hadn’t heard a lot about it. I really like Neil LaBute’s writing (and other plays) so I at least knew I would be seeing something interesting. LaBute tends to write the things we all say while hidden away in private, but he says them in a very public way#–and makes toe-curling drama from those situations. Fat Pig is about a man (Tom) who falls for a librarian (Helen) he meets by chance at a restaurant. She’s witty, she’s charming, she’s educated#–she is everything Tom could want in a woman: plus an extra 50 or 60 lbs. Tom is attractive, successful, charming, and aware that his choice in a mate is socially unique and open to criticism#–so he avoids his friends and coworkers when he’s out with Helen, hiding their relationship away in secrecy.

As you would expect, they find out anyway and thus enters the drama. Helen proclaims her ease with her weight, scoffing at society’s obsession with skinny things, and is so happy that Tom seems unfazed by magazine images of beauty#–and he is. He has no qualms about Helen’s weight. He is fazed by the disapproval of others. Like so many of us, he isn’t judgemental or dismissive because his (girl)friend is overweight, but he falls prey to the biting commentary of his "friends". Desperate to fit in, he sacrifices his opportunity for real love and affection in exchange for getting by without rocking the boat.

The acting was superb (if a bit exaggerated by Andrew McCarthy#–though perfect for the role) and really honed in on the intimate exchanges between friends. The scenes set in Tom’s office were very true to the relaxed atmosphere of the business world, and reminded me of my own days working in a cubicle. Jessica Capshaw crafted a very textured character in the role of Jeannie (a role that could have been played very thinly and stereotypically) as did Ashlie Atkinson in the role of Helen.

An aside about Ashlie’s role. Ashlie did not wear a fat suit or adorn herself in makeup to assume the role of the overweight Helen (see correction below)#–she is overweight. She is also an incredibly brave, courageous actress to take on this particular role#–enduring the scathing remarks of McCarthy and Capshaw’s characters nightly. Remarks that hit cruelly and kindle dread in the audience#–because we may have thought them (or said them) ourselves. At one point, McCarthy’s character says he observed his overweight mother examining the calories on a Snicker’s bar and told her the answer wasn’t counting calories, but to "stop shoving them into your fucking mouth." He goes on to attack the obese as flawed people with no self esteem and no self control. Again, pseudo-truths that are hard to say and hard to hear (and especially must be for those who are obese). I applaud all of the actors, and the writer, for handling the issue with honesty, sincerity, and power.

After the play, I had an internal struggle: finding fault with Tom and yet also feeling sorry for him. It was not his fault his girlfriend was overweight, and it was valid for him to want a mate that fulfilled his desires (even in her physicality). We all want someone we (and others) find attractive, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But he also continued the relationship even though he was secretly ashamed of her#–he wasn’t honest with himself, and he wasn’t honest with her. So the show became less about obesity and image, and more about honesty and truth. I think it’s very universal that we may claim honesty on issues like obesity, but when it comes down to it, we lie. I like to believe that I’m being honest when I say I make no judgements on the overweight, but I think I may be a little like Tom#–when it comes right down to it, I’m uncomfortable and turned off by it. Admitting that may make me unlikable, but in hiding it I run the risk of hurting someone down the line.

The play was moving, and well directed; the set was incredibly versatile, quickly changed, and worked within the confines of the play. I’m excited to see a play like this still being produced in the market-frenzied world of Broadway and Off-Broadway of 2005. Read it soon!