Geffen Playhouse Displays Reasons to be Pretty

Sandra Miska

For those of you who like your comedy on the darker side, be sure to check out Neil LaBute’s Reasons to Be Pretty this month at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. This Tony-nominated play, which debuted in New York in 2008, is a commentary about our beauty-obsessed society. After Greg’s tactless comment about his girlfriend Steph’s appearance gets back to Steph, his relationship begins to crumble. Throw his best friend Kent and Kent’s wife Carly into the mix, and a series of events are set in motion that change these four friends’ lives forever.

Reasons to Be Pretty is the third and final installment of a trilogy of LaBute plays that center on body image, the previous works being The Shape of Things and Fat Pig. Audience members seeing Reasons to Be Pretty can expect to see such difficult issues as betrayal, infidelity, and the search for perfection tackled on-stage.

Playing the role of Steph is television actress Amber Tamblyn. Tamblyn, who got her start on daytime drama General Hospital, rose to fame playing the title character in Joan of Arcadia. She currently plays Jenny, the long-lost lesbian daughter of Charlie Sheen’s character on Two and a Half Men. Her screen credits include The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and 127 Hours. On the personal front, Tamblyn married comedic actor David Cross (Arrested Development) in 2012.  Reasons to Be Pretty is her first play in 21 years.

“I think any form of art is beautiful,” Tamblyn told TheaterMania.com when asked how she defines beauty. “To me, beauty is anything that exhibits artistic style, so whatever that means to anybody personally, that’s what beauty is to me.”

Rounding out the cast of this latest production of Reasons to Be Pretty are other familiar faces from the small screen. Nick Gehlfuss, who most recently had a recurring role on season four of Shameless, plays Kent. Taking on the role of Greg is Shawn Hatosy, who starred as Detective Sammy Bryant on the drama Southland. In the role of Carly is Alicia Witt, whose resume spans 30 years and includes credits from Twin Peaks to Justified. Randall Arney, the Geffen Playhouse’s current artistic director, serves as the play’s director.

Tamblyn told TheaterMania.com that it was Arney, along with LaBute, who attracted her to the project. She previously met with Arney about a role in a play he had helmed at the playhouse called The Female of the Species. “I wasn’t particularly into the role but I really loved Randy and I’ve always kept him in my mind, so when [Reasons to Be Pretty] fell into my lap, it exploded for me,” she explained. “Because Neil LaBute is also one of my favorite playwrights. I saw this play done in New York…I remember seeing it and going, God, that is a really, really good play. And what great roles for women, which is sad that you even have to point out that there are great roles being written for women.”

Previews for Reasons to Be Pretty will run Tuesday-Sunday through August 31. Tickets are $39-$79 and can be purchased in-person at the Geffen Playhouse box office, via phone at 310-208-5454, or online at www.geffenplayhouse.com.