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Profiles Theatre will kick off its 2006-2007 Season by presenting the Midwest Premiere of Neil LaBute's award-winning "Fat Pig". "Fat Pig" won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play in 2005 and will open at Profiles September 14, 2006. Profiles' production will mark only the third time "Fat Pig" has been produced since its MCC Premiere in 2004, and will preclude Mr. Labute's self-directed London premiere.
Profiles continues their collaboration with Mr. LaBute having just produced the Midwest Premiere of "autobahn". "Fat Pig" will be directed by Profiles' Artistic Director Joe Jahraus and will feature Darrell W. Cox.
In conjunction, Profiles Theatre will host the "Hawaiian FAT PIG Out Benefit" on July 15, 2006 to help support its upcoming premiere. Tickets for the benefit are $30 in advance, and $35 at the door. For more information please call, (773) 549-1815 or visit www.profilestheatre.org.
In "Fat Pig", A man named Tom meets a women named Helen and they hit it off and fall in love, however, their relationship is complicated by the fact that Helen is overweight. Tom is hesitant to introduce her to his co-workers, who of course tease and torment him relentlessly when they find out who he’s dating and what she looks like.
"Fat Pig" was inspired in part by LaBute’s own experiment with Atkins—losing 60 pounds in the past, then gaining most of it back. “Typically, I’m not one to rip from my own life,” he says, but this time he’s done just that. “On one hand, what I was doing was healthy, but on the other, I saw it as a lot of wasted time on the self.” The play’s overt mission is to put our carb-counting, Extreme Makeover nation in the crosshairs. How much has our relentless pursuit of beauty turned us into an uglier species? Does love need society’s blessing to be complete?
Neil LaBute is an acclaimed playwright, screenwriter and film director. He studied Theatre at Brigham Young University where he produced a number of plays that pushed the envelope at the Mormon university, some of which were immediately shut down after their premieres. Mr. LaBute also did graduate work at the University of Kansas, New York University and the Royal Academy of London. In 1993, he returned to Brigham Young University to premiere his play “In The Company of Men”. Afterward, he taught drama and film at IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he adapted and filmed the play, launching his career as a film director. The film won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival and several other major awards at various film festivals, as well as the New York Film Critics Circle. His next film, “Your Friends and Neighbors”, was based on his earlier play, “Lepers”, which received its World Premiere in Chicago in 1992. In 2000, Mr. LaBute refocused his attentions to the stage with “Bash: Latter-Day Plays”, followed by “The Shape of Things” in 2001 (which he also made into a film), and “The Distance from Here” in 2002. His 2002 play, “The Mercy Seat”, was one of the first major theatrical responses to the September 11 terrorist attack. His 2005 plays include “Some Girls”, “Wrecks” and “This is How it Goes”.
Profiles Theatre’s production of "Fat Pig" will feature Darrell W. Cox who recently appeared as Clint in Profiles’ production of “The Glory of Living”. He also recently appeared at the Goodman in “The Shawl” and “Home” as part of the David Mamet Festival. He has been seen at Steppenwolf in the World Premiere of “Men of Tortuga”, the Midwest Premiere of “Orange Flower Water” (which also traveled to the Galway Arts Festival), and the World Premiere of “Wendall Greene”. Mr. Cox has received three Joseph Jefferson Citations for Principal Actor for his performances in Profiles’ productions of “Blackbird”, “Some Voices”, and “Eye of God”. He has also received two After Dark Awards for Outstanding Performance for his work in Profiles’ “Popcorn” and “Carnal Knowledge”
Directing “Fat Pig” will be Profiles Artisitic Director Joe Jahraus who was most recently seen in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of autobahn by Neil LaBute. Other recent appearances at Profiles include Carl in The Glory of Living, Berman in Reparation and Matt in Noise. Joe received a 1999 Jeff Citation Nomination for Ensemble for his performance as Wells in Stray Dogs. He has previously been seen in Profiles' productions of Wonder of the World, Snakebit, Jump to Cow Heaven, Some Voices, Dogs Barking, Popcorn, Eye of God, Paddywack, The Baby Dance, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Twilight Zone: The Series, How the Other Half Loves, The Water Engine, Minor Demons, Orphans, Battery, and True West. Joe's directing credits with Profiles include the Jeff Citation winning Blackbird, Babylon Gardens, the Jeff Citation nominated Carnal Knowledge and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He also co-directed Profiles' productions of The Water Engine, The Twilight Zone: The Series and How the Other Half Loves.