Review Roundup: Neil LaBute’s AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL at King's Head Theatre

The UK premiere of Neil LaBute's America the Beautiful is now open at King's Head Theatre. This triple-chapter initiative consists of a collection of 9 short plays of LaBute's with four actors, over three weeks, in two venues with one writer. From the critically acclaimed writer behind In the Company Of Men and The Shape Of Things, the show is presented by special arrangement with The Gersh Agency and includes both UK and world premieres as part of this ambitious line-up.

The cast comprises Anna María, Liam Jedele, Boris Anthony York and Maya-Nika Bewley. The run will see this fantastic company take on several roles across all 9 plays, playing with our need for connection and unearthing some of the darkest corners of the human condition. The collections will be directed by award-winning Artistic Director of Greenwich Theatre James Haddrell.

America The Beautiful is split into three distinct collections of short plays which offer a uniquely skewed view of life and relationships in the modern world. Written over the past decade for the LaBute New Theater Festival in the US, this marks the first time these plays have been performed together for UK audiences. See what the critics are saying...

Kate Wyver, The Guardian: Though his writing aims for savagery, this trio – previously staged in the US – leave little more than a faint mark. In Hate Crime, two men having an affair (Liam Jedele and Borris Anthony York) poorly plan the murder of one of their fiances for the life insurance payout. York watches on worriedly as Jedele’s character seethes and paces, exorcising his internalised homophobia by detailing exactly how he will beat up another man for his queerness. LaBute’s over-egged and easily diverted dialogue is as unsubtle as the men’s plan, while James Haddrell’s direction gives the actors a lot of nail-nibbling to be getting on with on Jana Lakatos’s boxy, hard-edged set.

Marina Funcasta, Corr Blimey: Both on a public level (sexuality, religion, class) to personal likes and dislikes (a joke about a cheese Danish in particular springs to mind), everything is a source of contention. LaBute’s characters are broken people living in a broken world, with only the intensity of their emotions as guides. There is violence at the heart of every scene; anger and fear spills over as we see the characters try and control, as well as locate, their emotions. But it is murky ground, and we aren’t provided a moral framework through which to judge LaBute’s stories.

Mark Lloyd, A Young(ish) Perspective: In conclusion, while the night offers a somewhat mixed bag in terms of script strength, the high quality of the acting and the impact of the bookending plays make this production well worth seeing. It is a fascinating, if unsettling, journey through the American psyche.