Satire runs deep in The Ugly One

Photo by Dan Norman.

We all know the bromides about beauty (“beauty is in the eye of the beholder”; “beauty is only skin deep”). We’re told that those who pursue beauty are vapid, vacuous, or vane. Yet we flock to every new technique to tighten our stomachs, erase crow’s feet; or just consume endless programs about those who take self-improvement to the extreme (perhaps hoping to catch sight of a plastic surgery disaster or two).

In other words, Marius von Mayenburg is mining a deep vein in The Ugly One. And that produces theatrical riches in Walking Shadow Theatre Company’s deft production at Open Eye Figure Theatre and director Amy Rummenie.

The story of a “hideously ugly” man whose life is transformed – first for good, and then for something else – by being given a new face fits perfectly with Walking Shadow’s previous work, as the company has long explored ideas around identity and image.

Our “ugly one” is Lette, a research electrical engineer who has created a new… thing that will make things run better than before. He is all ready to deliver the news of the product at a trade conference when his boss and associate spring the news on him: His hideous appearance in no way can be connected with the new creation.

Disorientated and depressed, Lette looks into plastic surgery. More than a few nicks, tucks, and cuts later, he has a brand new face: One so beautiful it could sell the new electric doohickey to an Amish farming family.

At first things are great. Lette’s standing with his job and his wife go through the roof. He even attracts the attention of consumer electronics groupies (including a rich woman and her snide son who are engaged in activities that would make Aleister Crowley blush) on his journeys to different trade shows.

The good times come to an end when Lette notices his face on another man. And then another. And another. Soon, his beautiful face has become common, and – as last week’s news – Lette finds his status tumbling down once again.

While the play is loaded with rich satire, it’s the quality of the characters – and the performances – that makes The Ugly One more than a lost episode ofBlack Mirror.  Sean Dillon leads the way as poor Lette, who is not the most likeable of characters. Still, Dillon makes us feel the character’s pain, temporary joy, and final despair in a way that is nearly heartbreaking.

The rest of the cast (including nice turns from Edwin Strout and Julie Ann Nevill) doubles up for the various characters, with Corey DiNardo particularly good as Lette’s conniving assistant and the rich woman’s son who is able to see the world for what it is.

The Ugly One runs through Feb. 16 at Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis.