Fat Pig: A Play

I'm not a fan of Neil LaBute. I find his characterizations distasteful, and he seems unable to find a redeeming quality in any of his male protaganists. This play is no different.

Tom is a meely-mouthed, twenty-something account executive who falls in love with an obese librarian, named Helen. When his co-workers find out, they tease him mercilessly. Just when you think he has gathered up the strength to stand up for his woman, he falls prey to peer (societal) pressure. What makes it even worse, is that Helen, who had been very accepting of her own size throughout the play, becomes this pitiful fat girl who begs Tom to take her back. She even promises to get skinny for him. Why couldn't it have been a totally uncliched ending, and have show more Helen be angry and gutsy instead of weepy and begging. show less

Aged badly. Pre-fat acceptance movement, and just comes across as faintly didactic whilst also not quite wholly committing to what it wants to say. A mix of caricature (ex-girlfriend) and attempts at genuinely-sketched characters (protagonist) doesn't work together.

This is a very brief, very simply written play about thoughtless idiots. It's not funny, or even provocatively uncomfortable. Being as the purpose in writing it remains elusive, it's difficult to even give it a proper critique. Some things, however, seem fairly clear. In order for the premise of the play to resonate, one must take it as a given that overweight people are inherently disgusting and that overcoming this default assessment requires an heroic and volitional moral choice: all the dramatic tension is dependent upon this assumption. In lieu of accepting that, this play could perhaps work if the viewer at least takes it for granted that people who believe instinctively that overweight people are disgusting are worth taking show more seriously and having as close friends. That's about as deep as any thinking about this play can really go. show less

Shallow and offensive.

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