Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...LaBute is generous and involved with Profiles, handing this North Side storefront a script that was just on Broadway in 2009, even continuing to work on it. The off-Broadway version of this play had monologs where characters directly addressed the audience; the Broadway version cut those speeches. The Profiles version, which I like best of all, text-wise, is a hybrid of those two."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...LaBute’s writing for the play’s two female characters is exceptionally strong here, while some of the male interaction seems a bit forced for plot purposes. But his insights into why and how one relationship crumbles while another manages to endure, are intriguing. And sometimes it has to do with swallowing lies, even when you know the truth."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Neil LaBute's 2008 play, his first to reach Broadway, is a crafty, funny critique of the male sense of entitlement, performed here with passionate precision by Rick Snyder's engaging cast. It's smart and interesting, but LaBute can't quite extract great drama from his volatile material. He lets only one character face serious consequences, and then only in the final scene."
Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...Reasons to Be Pretty, like Fat Pig and The Shape of Things are cultural weapons in the Sisyphean (would that it were merely Herculean) war against the insidious, impossible ideals promulgated by everything from Victoria Secret “fashion shows” to the latest “scientific breakthrough” in weight loss. It’s not a stretch to assert that LaBute’s dialogue is the dramatic embodiment of issues such as those put forth in the likes of Naomi Wolfe’s seminal book The Beauty Myth. For the characters of Reasons to be Pretty, the world revolves around perceptions of beauty and when those perceptions clash, all kinds of revelatory ugliness breaks out."
Copley News Service - Highly Recommended
"...Neil LaBute’s “reasons to be pretty” is a great couples play, not because it’s romantic, which it isn’t. But the show will provide stimulating conversational fodder with “chick” and “guy” points of view confronting each other. Each gender can claim some moral high ground in this battle of the sexes and each side should be a little embarrassed by their representatives in the play."
Talkin Broadway - Recommended
"...LaBute's concise play (running under two hours, without an intermission) cares greatly for its characters and has a keen eye for the working-class milieu it depicts. The Profiles storefront space is not the ideal place to stage it, though. Their tiny playing area, with the audience split into two sections on opposite sides, doesn't have enough space for the sort of detailed and realistic set that could fully depict the dehumanizing environment in which Greg, Kent and Carly agree to. Designer Stephen H. Carmody of necessity works with bare walls and just a few props to represent the break room and scenes in a food court, an Italian restaurant and on a softball field."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"...The actors are called upon to say difficult things; very, very unpretty words borne of internal conflict between desire and vanity, love and hurt. They say them and mean them, and for that they are to be applauded. Seeing a Neil LaBute play never fails to leave me with a lot to think about; I encourage you all to go see what this play says to you."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...
Profiles’s ensemble digs deeply into the play’s paranoid, vulnerable quartet. Few actors in the city can play wounded masculinity better than Cox; whether raging at Carly for her backstabbing or tussling with Kent on the softball diamond, his Greg stays sympathetic, even if you might not want to date him."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...LaBute utilizes his normal themes of dominance, anger, revenge while highlighting our contemporary perception of physical beauty in shaping our lives. We how terms like “regular” and “pretty” can act as a dagger to the heart of insecure low-self-esteemed individuals. We also see that Greg realizes the power of words as his dreams of a reconciliation with Steph are finished in a poignant, romantic ‘good-bye’ scene that will tug you heartstrings. I never thought I’d witness such a scene in a LaBute play!"
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...This is an intense look at relationships and one of the fastest 90 minutes of theater I have seen of late. Each character, flawed as they may be, is real and may in fact appear to be someone that you know, or perhaps, if you truly look in the mirror, you! Directed by Steppenwolf’s Rick Snyder on a sparse set ( Stephen H. Carmody) with lighting by Jess Harpenau and basic costumes by Myron Elliott, this is a character study where the words of LaBute and the acting of this fine cast are what is important. No glitz or glamour- just basic art with heart and soul from all sides."
Chicago Theater Beat - Highly Recommended
"...Color it, tweeze it, lift it… men may be the catalyst for the never-ending beauty quest, but the standard is mirrored by women. There is plenty of “reasons to be pretty”! There are even more “reasons to be pretty nice”! This show examines what’s going on below the surface in relationships and attitudes. The ugly truth is some people don’t think YOU are pretty enough. Seeing this show will help you determine if s/he is sitting next to you."