what's the buzz?
(Fat Pig has) strong and nuanced performances (from) its four actors. The Enterprise
Garrett Olson, playing Tom, is superb. Wicked Local
Ian Rubinstein steals the show as the obnoxious Carter, Tom’s workplace chum, who never seems to run out of scurrilous remarks. Wicked Local
Kudos to Mr. Rubinstein for his almost-manic energy and priceless facial expressions. The Enterprise
Smith plays Jeannie with a blend of desperation and righteous anger. Cape Cod Times
Jeannie (is) played with genuine vulnerability and viciousness by Ms. Smith... The Enterprise
Ms. Wilson... finds a balance between broad comedy and soft sincerity with her staging and blocking... (she) is the solid center of the entire play. The Enterprise
Helen (Jess Wilson) is brilliant, a professional woman, beautiful and is hilariously funny, even in the most self-deprecating ways. ... Wilson is brilliant as the beleaguered and brave Helen; she is the most honest and real character in the play. Cape Cod Times
Worth the price of admission: Jess Wilson’s performance is honest, wrenching, funny and heartbreaking. Cape Cod Times
WatermelonAlligator's production of FAT PIG was wonderful! Provocative, evocative, and a sincere and honest punch in the gut. Go see it if you can! The Glass Horse Project founder Korey Pimental
Garrett Olson, playing Tom, is superb. Wicked Local
Ian Rubinstein steals the show as the obnoxious Carter, Tom’s workplace chum, who never seems to run out of scurrilous remarks. Wicked Local
Kudos to Mr. Rubinstein for his almost-manic energy and priceless facial expressions. The Enterprise
Smith plays Jeannie with a blend of desperation and righteous anger. Cape Cod Times
Jeannie (is) played with genuine vulnerability and viciousness by Ms. Smith... The Enterprise
Ms. Wilson... finds a balance between broad comedy and soft sincerity with her staging and blocking... (she) is the solid center of the entire play. The Enterprise
Helen (Jess Wilson) is brilliant, a professional woman, beautiful and is hilariously funny, even in the most self-deprecating ways. ... Wilson is brilliant as the beleaguered and brave Helen; she is the most honest and real character in the play. Cape Cod Times
Worth the price of admission: Jess Wilson’s performance is honest, wrenching, funny and heartbreaking. Cape Cod Times
WatermelonAlligator's production of FAT PIG was wonderful! Provocative, evocative, and a sincere and honest punch in the gut. Go see it if you can! The Glass Horse Project founder Korey Pimental
photos
synopsis
“Cow.” “Slob.” “Pig.” How many insults can you hear before you have to stand up and defend the woman you love? Tom faces just that question when he falls for Helen, a bright, funny, sexy young woman who happens to be plus-sized and then some. Forced to explain his new relationship to his shallow (although shockingly funny) friends, Tom comes to terms with his own preconceptions of the importance of conventional good looks. Neil LaBute's sharply drawn play not only critiques our slavish adherence to Hollywood ideals of beauty but boldly questions our own ability to change what we dislike about ourselves.
cast and crew
Cast in order of appearance:
Helen: Jess Wilson
Tom: Garrett Olson
Carter: Ian Rubinstein
Jeannie: Victoria Smith
Crew:
Director: Jess Wilson
Assistant Director: Victoria Smith
Technical Director: Erin Trainor
Lighting Design: Erin Trainor
Sound Design: Jess Wilson
Publicity: Daniel Fortneau
Helen: Jess Wilson
Tom: Garrett Olson
Carter: Ian Rubinstein
Jeannie: Victoria Smith
Crew:
Director: Jess Wilson
Assistant Director: Victoria Smith
Technical Director: Erin Trainor
Lighting Design: Erin Trainor
Sound Design: Jess Wilson
Publicity: Daniel Fortneau
special thanks
Cotuit Center for the Arts, David Kuehn, The Waldorf School of Cape Cod, Susan Salvesen,
Kogi Korean BBQ of Plymouth, Patricia Cho & Thuyet Phan
Kogi Korean BBQ of Plymouth, Patricia Cho & Thuyet Phan
press release
Cotuit Center for the Arts presents “Fat Pig” by Neil LaBute April 5 to 22, 2018, in the Black Box Theater. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 PM, with Sunday performances on April 15 and April 22 at 2 PM, and an additional Saturday performance on April 21 at 2 PM.
The play is directed by Jess Wilson. Victoria Smith serves as assistant director.
Neil LaBute's sharply drawn play not only critiques our slavish adherence to Hollywood ideals of beauty, but boldly questions our own ability to change what we dislike about ourselves.
“Neil Labute’s works are designed to provoke an emotional reaction from the audience,” said director Jess Wilson, who also directed the play as a staged reading at CCftA in 2016, “and because of that, many of his pieces leave us feeling uneasy. They hit a little too close to home.”
“Fat Pig,” which debuted on Broadway in 2004, is the second in LaBute’s trilogy of plays with the overarching theme of contemporary society’s superficiality and the grip it has on many of us, alongside “The Shape Of Things” and “Reasons To Be Pretty.”. Described by LaBute himself as “a study in weakness,” the play explores love, attraction, insecurity, and societal expectations. “We are so focused on appearance and the way things look,” said Wilson. “The title, and the way the play evolves, makes people uncomfortable, but in a good way. It holds a mirror up to human nature and says, ‘Hey guys, this is what we do. If you’re uncomfortable, maybe it’s time to change things.’
“Hopefully it will lead people to think, which is really the goal of theatre, to let people enjoy the world of the character, but to get them thinking about how we live our lives,” Wilson said.
Garrett Olson of Pembroke plays Tom. “He’s a wonderful actor in both film and theater,” said Wilson. “This is such a good piece, about the weakness of this one character, what it means to love, and whether someone can be honest and truthful in that love and not be swayed by the superficiality that surrounds them.” Olson was most recently seen in the 2nd Wednesday Theater production of “Chapter Two”, alongside both Wilson and Smith, and appeared as Ebenezer Scrooge in True Repertory Theatre’s recent production of “A Christmas Carol” and Donald Strait in “How To Survive a Zombie Apocalypse” with WatermelonAlligator. He is the Technical Director for the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company and Associate Artistic Director for True Repertory Theatre.
Ian Rubinstein of Bourne is Carter, Tom’s co-worker, “a very unlikeable character in many ways, yet at the same time, he is someone we all know well,” said Wilson. Rubinstein is no stranger to Cape audiences, having just completed a run of “The Game’s Afoot” at the Barnstable Comedy Club.
Victoria Smith is Jeannie, Tom’s ex-girlfriend and co-worker. Smith appeared in the CCftA’s productions of “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” “Frost/Nixon,” and the recent 2nd Wednesday Theater production of “Chapter Two.” Smith also just finished performing in “The Game’s Afoot” at the Barnstable Comedy Club.
Wilson will take on the role of Helen, a likeable, confident, and down-to-earth woman. “This piece definitely has a message I think is very important and powerful” said Wilson. “The title makes you think the play is about the size of one of the characters, and to some degree it is, but it’s really more about Tom, about his relationship with this woman who shows him a glimpse of the guy he could be, this better person he thinks he should strive to become, and going along with him as he decides whether he can do that work.”
Wilson, who lives in Onset, recently directed “Leading Ladies” at Nemasket River Productions in Middleboro, “12 Angry Men” at Plymouth Community Theater, and “Cabaret” for Buzzards Play Productions in Wareham. She is the Managing and Artistic Director for the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company, and Associate Artistic Director for True Repertory Theatre. She has appeared in numerous plays in the area, most recently as Janet in the 2nd Wednesday Theater production of “Chapter Two”, The Ghost of Christmas Past in True Repertory’s “A Christmas Carol”, Tybalt/Paris in “Romeo & Juliet” for the Glass Horse Project in New Bedford, Prospera in “The Tempest” with Midsummer Shakespeare of Onset and Dr Dale Seslick in WatermelonAlligator’s “How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse.”
Be advised that “Fat Pig” contains sexual situations and adult themes.
The play is directed by Jess Wilson. Victoria Smith serves as assistant director.
Neil LaBute's sharply drawn play not only critiques our slavish adherence to Hollywood ideals of beauty, but boldly questions our own ability to change what we dislike about ourselves.
“Neil Labute’s works are designed to provoke an emotional reaction from the audience,” said director Jess Wilson, who also directed the play as a staged reading at CCftA in 2016, “and because of that, many of his pieces leave us feeling uneasy. They hit a little too close to home.”
“Fat Pig,” which debuted on Broadway in 2004, is the second in LaBute’s trilogy of plays with the overarching theme of contemporary society’s superficiality and the grip it has on many of us, alongside “The Shape Of Things” and “Reasons To Be Pretty.”. Described by LaBute himself as “a study in weakness,” the play explores love, attraction, insecurity, and societal expectations. “We are so focused on appearance and the way things look,” said Wilson. “The title, and the way the play evolves, makes people uncomfortable, but in a good way. It holds a mirror up to human nature and says, ‘Hey guys, this is what we do. If you’re uncomfortable, maybe it’s time to change things.’
“Hopefully it will lead people to think, which is really the goal of theatre, to let people enjoy the world of the character, but to get them thinking about how we live our lives,” Wilson said.
Garrett Olson of Pembroke plays Tom. “He’s a wonderful actor in both film and theater,” said Wilson. “This is such a good piece, about the weakness of this one character, what it means to love, and whether someone can be honest and truthful in that love and not be swayed by the superficiality that surrounds them.” Olson was most recently seen in the 2nd Wednesday Theater production of “Chapter Two”, alongside both Wilson and Smith, and appeared as Ebenezer Scrooge in True Repertory Theatre’s recent production of “A Christmas Carol” and Donald Strait in “How To Survive a Zombie Apocalypse” with WatermelonAlligator. He is the Technical Director for the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company and Associate Artistic Director for True Repertory Theatre.
Ian Rubinstein of Bourne is Carter, Tom’s co-worker, “a very unlikeable character in many ways, yet at the same time, he is someone we all know well,” said Wilson. Rubinstein is no stranger to Cape audiences, having just completed a run of “The Game’s Afoot” at the Barnstable Comedy Club.
Victoria Smith is Jeannie, Tom’s ex-girlfriend and co-worker. Smith appeared in the CCftA’s productions of “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” “Frost/Nixon,” and the recent 2nd Wednesday Theater production of “Chapter Two.” Smith also just finished performing in “The Game’s Afoot” at the Barnstable Comedy Club.
Wilson will take on the role of Helen, a likeable, confident, and down-to-earth woman. “This piece definitely has a message I think is very important and powerful” said Wilson. “The title makes you think the play is about the size of one of the characters, and to some degree it is, but it’s really more about Tom, about his relationship with this woman who shows him a glimpse of the guy he could be, this better person he thinks he should strive to become, and going along with him as he decides whether he can do that work.”
Wilson, who lives in Onset, recently directed “Leading Ladies” at Nemasket River Productions in Middleboro, “12 Angry Men” at Plymouth Community Theater, and “Cabaret” for Buzzards Play Productions in Wareham. She is the Managing and Artistic Director for the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company, and Associate Artistic Director for True Repertory Theatre. She has appeared in numerous plays in the area, most recently as Janet in the 2nd Wednesday Theater production of “Chapter Two”, The Ghost of Christmas Past in True Repertory’s “A Christmas Carol”, Tybalt/Paris in “Romeo & Juliet” for the Glass Horse Project in New Bedford, Prospera in “The Tempest” with Midsummer Shakespeare of Onset and Dr Dale Seslick in WatermelonAlligator’s “How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse.”
Be advised that “Fat Pig” contains sexual situations and adult themes.