THE UGLY ONE by Marius von Mayenburg, translated by Maja Zade, directed by Ashlie Corcoran, with Jesse Aaron Dwyre, David Jansen, Hardee T. Lineham and Naomi Wright (Theatre Smash). Tarragon Extra Space (30 Bridgman). Previews begin Friday (September 30), opens Tuesday (October 4) and runs to October 16, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinee Sunday 2:30 pm. $18-$34. 416-531-1827. See listing.
Everyone, including Naomi Wolf and Joan Rivers, has weighed in on the cult of narcissism, says director Ashlie Corcoran.
For research purposes, Corcoran assigned the cast of Theatre Smash’s latest show, The Ugly One, readings from Wolf’s The Beauty Myth and Rivers’s Men Are Stupid And They Like Big Boobs.
It’s the director’s way to get into German writer Marius von Mayenburg’s play, in which Lette, a successful but unattractive engineer, is convinced to get a new face through plastic surgery. His life and marriage improve, but things get strange when other people show up with his face.
“The play is an absurdist exploration of our conformist, narcissistic society and what we value,” explains Corcoran, co-head of Theatre Smash as well as an opera director. “While the focus is on Lette, it turns out that every character in the play – many of them have similar names – is narcissistic or enables another’s narcissism.”
Reading the script, Corcoran says the world being described shifted under her.
“It’s not just that the characters share names but that the playwright hasn’t indicated any scene changes or transitions,” she says. “Confrontations bleed one into another.”
I suggest that the result is cinematic in feel, but the director asserts that it’s specifically theatrical.
“My work, along with that of the actors, is to help the audience figure out what’s going on and where we are in every episode. I want the cast to help clarify switches of location and speakers but also allow viewers some of the fun of figuring it out.”
She’s staging the play alley-style, with the audience sitting on both sides of the action.
“This is a play about perception and projection. I don’t think I’ve ever worked on a piece that asks for so much engagement from its viewers, but that’s one of the reasons I love it. The audience gets to see its other half behind the action we share a sense of complicity and increasing knowledge about the characters and ourselves.”
While she doesn’t want the actors to “changes hats” to signify when they’re different characters, Corcoran’s relying in part on John Gzowski’s sound design to help us focus on specific episodes, such as the operation scenes.
“What I most like about the play is that it’s uncomfortable and provocative but never didactic. Mayenburg doesn’t judge his characters but holds up a mirror to show us our society, leaving questions for us to answer.”
Additional Interview Clip
How Ashlie Corcoran found The Ugly One for Theatre Smash:
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
