Glorious Alison Pill Has Reasons to Be Pretty
Alison Pill, the gal we dubbed "glorious" last October, has been cast in Neil LaBute's new play reasons to be pretty, set for a June 2 opening night at the MCC Theater. According to The Observer's Lizzy Ratner, Ms. Pill has played "a scrappy girl terrorist in Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore—a play that marked her Broadway debut and earned her a Tony nomination for featured actress. She has played the tormented victim of a Lolita-style love affair in Blackbird, an off-Broadway play for which she won all kinds of critical praise and, yes, more nominations (that time from the Outer Critics Circle and Drama League). She has played broken girlfriends and clinically depressed teens and, in Mauritius, a complicated young woman who also happen[ed] to be her first starring Broadway role." In reasons to be pretty, she'll play another pretty face. Her co-worker Greg will comment on her good looks (and his girlfriend’s lack thereof) and those comments will get back to his ladyfriend. Then his friends get involved and suburban-style social chaos ensues! According to press notes: "All are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?" We'd say that Ms. Pill has a lot of currency in that department.
I saw this play. I think the first half of the play is good, but the ending does not mesh well with the playwright's personal statement about what he believes the play is about.
I thought the play ended heavily, thudding with an inappropriate and cliche-ridden monologue by the apparent focus of the show, the young man who had to grow up.
Is it growing up? He was offered love and would not take it, because he didn't seem to value himself enough to reward himself with the trials and growth of love. In the end he tells the audience that treating people nice is reward itself. And that it's simple.
He learns this by being mean to people and being nice, supposedly, by not dating the woman he loved, but apparently not enough? Sorry, but the play ended in a confusing jumble for me and smacked more of voyeurism than art.
However, the first part of the play is stunning. Very witty and a pronounced maturity in the lines.