Fat Pig by Neil Labute at the Garage Theatre Steppenwolf

Wow! What a great show. A 90 minute tour-de-force of young actors handling riveting material, about real life issues. Tom, played by Josh Bywater, unexpectedly meets a young lady in the local cafeteria. There is nowhere else to sit, so he is forced to share a table with her. She has just finished 3 slices of pizza and a cheesestick as Tom is eating his salad. Helen, the young lady at the table, is an intriguing character who does not fit society's idea of beauty. She is full-figured, confident, funny and engaging. Tom seems to be taken with her after the ice is broken and before the lunch is over, they have agreed to meet again. And so the saga begins. The play was performed without an intermission (which was great) and ran about 90 minutes. Tom is assaulted throughout the play by his co-worker Carter, who seems to be uncaring about hurting or crushing the feelings of others. He is narcissistic and crass. Tom is also attacked by Jeannie, another co-worker from accounting. We later find out that Jeannie is in love with Tom and is horrified that their relationship failed and now is pursing a relationship with what she calls a 'fat' expletive. The play is about how people cope with others opinions about who they date and what they do. The play was heavy and left you wondering what was going to happen next. Many people don't like it when a playwright, or a movie, leaves you hanging in the end. However, these are my favorite types of shows. I like to leave the theatre with work to do, I have a broad imagination that can do the work and I will decide what happens next to the characters. One issue that keeps creeping into Helen and Tom's relationship is that although it is progressing, they are always hanging out alone. Tom is not integrating her into his circle of friends and this is because (she believes) that he is ashamed of her. The play has an incredible ending where the actors are onstage in the bathing suits and Tom and Helen finally 'have it out' about their isolation. What happened next was horrible, but honest, and true to life. I won't tell you what happens, but I encourage you to go see the play if you ever can and judge for yourself.

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