Intense Drama in Renaissance’s ‘Reasons to Be Pretty’

Renaissance Theaterworks opens its season with a caustic, aggressive drama about the nature of human beauty. Neil LaBute’s Reasons to Be Prettymanages to deliver hostility even in its silent moments. But under the direction of Suzan Fete, the cast of four develops a satisfying complexity within the aggression.

None of the characters is entirely likable, as each one plays to a different human flaw. Lenny Banovez plays the witty Greg, an avid reader who works at a factory. Many people can identify with Greg’s struggle to meet his potential. Banovez’s performance adds depth to Greg, whose inability to fully express himself raises some difficulties for Stephanie (Carrie Coon), the woman he loves. Coon, who plays a woman dealing with upset feelings about her physical appearance, reveals a complex beauty beneath the character’s overwhelming anger.

Steve Wojtas plays Kent, Greg’s alpha-male co-worker who apparently has never had reason to become a genuinely nice, emotionally attractive human being. Wojtas delivers on the challenge of keeping Kent from coming across as a totaljerk. As Kent’s wife, Carly, a security guard at the aforementioned factory, Georgina McKee maintains a clever balanceCarly’s inner strength also comes across as a weakness.

The play opens with a fight between Greg and Stephanie that immediately lends negative energy to the production. Though there are positive aspects to the script, Reasons to Be Pretty never quite pulls itself out of the negativity. This is a very powerful interpersonal drama.

Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of Reasons to Be Prettyruns through Oct. 24 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre.