Jamie Konchak is amazing. Just look at this woman's resume: Hedwig and the Angry Inch with Sage Theatre. My First Time with Ground Zero. The Penelopiad at ATP. And now reasons to be pretty. In each of these, she is front-and-center for the emotional climax of the play, and she leaves people in tears. It's uncanny. And it never hurts when she's surrounded by award winners and theatre veterans.

The play opens with shouting, a furious bedroom fight between a couple. Stephanie (Konchak) accuses her boyfriend Greg (Patrick MacEachern) of an overheard comment, that he apparently thinks Stephanie is 'regular looking'. And that's it. No twists, no tricks, no high concepts. The rest of the play simply tracks the consequences and repercussions of Greg's single comment. Friendships and relationships are fractured and broken. It changes people and lingers in everything they say and don't say.

It's refreshing to see a play that is boiled down to just the acting and the dialogue. When more is said in an awkward silence than in some entire plays. When you can feel the impact of a well-placed insult or swear. It's a sharp and focused effort on all fronts, from the stripped bare sets and whited-out props to the effortless scene and setting changes.

reasons to be pretty is arguably Labute's most mature play, and if not, it's definitely his warmest. Yes, there are shouting matches. There are bouts of violence. And there is Tyrell Crews as Kent, a pure distillation of a classic Labute character, simultaneously horrific and hilarious. But it also contains something resembling redemption, or at least Labute's skewed idea of it, which all culminates at the very end.

The final scene contains so many crucial beats, so many subtle shifts in tone and meaning. It’s a delicate balancing act. And the execution here is pitch-perfect. Quietly paced after all the emotional ammo has been spent. Konchack and MacEachern deserve some recognition for this scene alone. Heck, they all deserve something. They’re far more than just pretty faces.

Runs until November 20, 2010. Tickets here.
Photo Credit: Trudie Lee