Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig is a slight play on a weighty theme. You fall in love with someone who looks unusual, in this case very large – although there is nothing unusual about that in America and, increasingly, here – but have trouble going public about it. What to do?
Like all good playwrights, LaBute operates on two levels. The fatness of his sweet-tempered heroine Helen is both a literal expression of her bountiful humanity and a metaphorical signal of the difference in all people, not just handicapped or culturally alien – but temperamentally unique, too.
For it’s clear in the tortured, wittily inflected performance of Peep Show star Robert Webb as Tom that diving into the enveloping “niceness” of Ella Smith’s beautiful, gargantuan Helen is as much a spiritual tactic as a physical one: he wants a new comfort zone after a needling, nagging relationship with the screeching sexpot Jeannie (Gavin and Stacey’s Joanna Page) in the office accounts department.
So, for him, fat really is the new thin and also the refreshingly new fat. Tom meets Helen in a city lunch bar, right across the road from where she works as a librarian, or “printed word specialist.” Back at the office – you don’t know what business the office actually represents – Tom’s colleague Carter, a supercilious smartass who takes satanic glee in the discomfort of others and is played to ghastly perfection by Kris Marshall, tries to find out what is going on, while Jeannie bitches on the sidelines.
After an idyllic period in which Tom and Helen hunker down with popcorn, old movies and a dialogue relationship that cleverly steps around the size issue which is staring them in the face, things come to a head on an office beach outing. Jeannie looks gorgeous in her bikini and Helen, well, impressive in her swathes of swimwear and sarong.
Huge is a growing issue nowadays; over a third of most people are too fat, and it’s bad for them and bad news for their loved ones. LaBute, who directs his own seven-scene play on a stark, revolving design by Christopher Oram, has come up with another brilliant contemporary comedy and incidentally revealed a wonderful, richly voiced new star in 24 year-old Ella Smith, who really does prove that fat can be beautiful as well as a problem.
- Michael Coveney
Reader Reviews
Score
Comment
Date
Two Thumbs Up! - Phil
11 Aug 08
Saw this show last weekend 1st August. A very interesting topic but somehow it got lost in what was at times rather lack lustre acting. Television actors must learn to project their voices; a lot was lost even on K row.
There should have been more light and shade throughout and the first half just ended..no applause nothing! The slim second half added little to the piece other than what was plainly obvious. Surely it would have worked so much better without an interval, but then was it worth sacrificing the bar taking? Felt a bit short changed overall. - Stuart
04 Aug 08
Not funny. Not well acted. Overheated theatre and at £47 disgustingly overpriced tickets for a short small cast mean set piece. - Gaylord Ravenal
02 Aug 08
I have a bit of a problem with Neil LaBute plays; I find them rather cynical. This is better than his worst (Mercy Street); it's more human, a touch compassionate. I occasionally felt uncomfortable, when he shows the worst side of human behaviour but also when the characters are saying / doing what you've said / done yourself. What makes it a worthwhile evening, though, is not the play but four fine performances, beautifully judged and well balanced. - Gareth James
24 Jul 08
Neil LaBute has written some of my favourite plays of the last ten years and I much prefer him to David Mamet with whom he is often compared, but Fat Pig is a disappointment. There is little of his acerbic dialogue or whiplash story twists. After an excellent first scene the story of Tom and Helen's romance drifts to a limp conclusion - so limp that it wasn't until the cast returned for their curtain call that it was clear that it was over. Robert Webb does reasonably well as Tom but the cast of TV actors lack genuine stagecraft. A recent photograph of LaBute might provide a clue as to why he has gone so soft with Fat Pig. - David Baxter
26 Jun 08
I enjoyed this play far more than I expected. I wasn't drawn in by the "star" names (I didn't know the women at all, Robert Webb only by association: the only one I've watched do anything is Kris Marshall), it was the subject matter - I'm in the early days of a relationship with a larger woman, even if the difference between us isn't so extreme. I didn't have a problem with the American accents that some other comment areas seem to have. The only niggle is the scene change music: I listen to far rockier music than that on a daily basis but what was used didn't work for me here. - SYC
22 Jun 08
A thought provoking, tender, funny, interesting play about self esteem or lack of it for some characters, that clearly has everyone talking!! I plan to see it again. - Sepha
14 Jun 08
Unfortunately, TV stars attract the chav punters who don't normally go to the theatre, and it's selling rather well. - Sally Bundock
04 Jun 08
I thought the last 5 minutes were hilarious. - CS
02 Jun 08
Comedians can't act!
Stick to what you know. - joesmith
28 May 08
I have just returned from a preview of Fat Pig and it was probably the worst show I have ever attended. It was so bad that this is the first time I have ever reviewed online, but I feel that any effort is worth it in order to prevent anyone else having to suffer through this drivel. The first problem is the terrible acting, especially when it came to the woeful American accents. My girlfriend identified Marshall as Irish, Webb as Australian and that Welsh girl as, you guessed it, Welsh! I am not sure if the reason poor actors have to pretend to be American is because of recent changes in immigration policy or if the producers could not find any Americans thin enough to cast! This brings us neatly to the story, if indeed it can be called that. This weak take on boy meets girl etc. consists mainly of a string of tedious and shallow arguments that leads to no where in particular. This production seems to typify all that is presently wrong in the West end (and elsewhere in media), in that manufactured celebrities are employed to peddle the Americanised and lacklustre output of dramatists masquerading as comedians. Honestly this was harder to endure than an episode of East-enders. I felt that I was not alone in my hatred of this show as other members of the audience could be heard tutting and sighing. The laughter was occasional and the applause was polite. DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING! - tony hill
25 May 08
A remarkably dull 'comedy', ostensibly, though there are not many laughs to be had. Irritating, juvenile, unsympathetic characters talk (a lot!) about nothing in particular, the story goes nowhere and the thrash-metal transitional music is an assault on the senses. I wasn't deaf going in, but my ears were ringing afterwards.
Who cares if your work colleagues gossip about your choice in women? What's at stake? Nothing!! I spent the whole time desperately waiting for something either dramatic or amusing to happen and ended up very disappointed.
I felt sorry for the actors. (Can't the BT-ad guy play anything other than obnoxious and annoying, or is that just his niche?)
Save yourselves £40 and get Peep Show on DVD instead. - Gavin Brock
23 May 08
Really enjoyed 'Fat Pig'. Very funny and very well acted by all 4. Wish the ending was different though!? Totally worth a visit. - Caz
22 May 08
I found this play extremely well written, well acted, with stand-out performances by Ella Smith and Robert Webb. The writer tackles sensitive issues wonderfully and accurately, with a extremely realistic portrayel of the ignorance of some people. Well done to all involved in this play. I found it marvellous! - J
19 May 08
guy falls for fat girl. co-worker and ex-girlfriend are mean. guy gives up on girl. end of story. somehow labute (who has, it's true a knack for picking hot-button issues) manages to pad this out into a full-length play. there are no interesting twists to the story. the dialogue is soap-opera dull. labute's stock one-dimensional nasty people make their expected appearance. anyone who has seen any other labute play has no need to see this. - fred
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