THE UGLY ONE Opens at the WST's Independence Studio on 3, 2/24

Walnut Street Theatre's 2010-2011 Independence Studio on 3 season continues with Marius von Mayenburg's black comedy, THE UGLY ONE. Directed by Debi Marcucci, the production begins with previews on February 22nd, opens February 24th and continues through March 13th in the Walnut's Independence Studio
on 3.

Lette is a successful engineer who leads a normal life until he is told that he is "unspeakably ugly." His boss breaks the news when he denies Lette the chance to be the face of the company for the promotion of a new invention that Lette himself created. When Fanny, Lette's wife, confirms that his face is unacceptable, he has no place to turn but to a plastic surgeon. Wouldn't you? With a brand new face, his life becomes instantaneously more beautiful, filled with lust and success. But this dream life soon becomes an absurdist nightmare. Individuality is under the scalpel in this modern day, cut-and-tuck fairy tale, THE UGLY ONE.

THE UGLY ONE premiered in 2007 at The Royal Court Theatre in London. The Sunday Telegraph hailed the play as "...fiendishly clever, deeply unnerving and scalpel sharp," while the London Evening Standard praised the production as "A delectable black comedy... I have not seen a more imaginative, inventive or disturbing theatrical vision." Director Debi Marcucci will set the Walnut's all-new production in Southern California, known for elevating plastic surgery to an art form.

THE UGLY ONE was written by German playwright Marius Von Mayenburg and translated by Maja Zade. Mayenburg was born in Munich in 1972. His breakthrough as a dramatist came with Fireface, which he wrote in 1997. The play was performed on Kammerspiele in Munich the following year. He attended The Royal Court Theatre International Residency for Young Playwrights in 1998. In that same year he became a member of the artistic direction team at the Baracke, the Studio Theatre of the Deutsches Theatre in Berlin. In 1999 he went to work as Playwright-in-Residence at the Berliner Schaubuhne am Lehniner Platz. His plays include Parasiten, Das Kalte Kid, Eldorado, Turista, Augenlicht, Der Hasslicheand and Morning Target.

The cast of THE UGLY ONE includes Ben Dibble (Lette), Sarah Gliko (Fanny), Noah Mazaika (Karlmann) and Bill Van Horn (Scheffler). Walnut audiences will remember Ben Dibble from Walnut productions including Mel Brooks' The Producers (Leo Bloom) and more recently from Irvin Berlin's White Christmas (Ralph Sheldrake). Sarah Gliko returns to the Walnut after performances in The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) and The Irish & How They Got That Way. Bill Van Horn steps onto the Studio on 3 stage after directing its last production, Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. Bill has also appeared on stage at the Walnut in Fiddler on the Roof (Lazar Wolf) and wrote and starred in Studio on 3's O Captain, My Captain: Whitman's Lincoln (Walt Whitman). After appearing in Carousel and the world premiere of The Eclectic Society at the Walnut, Noah Mazaika returns for THE UGLY ONE.

THE UGLY ONE is directed by long-time Walnut Stage Manager and South Philadelphia native Debi Marcucci. Debi directed the 2006 hit production Lobby Hero and 2007's Mr. Bailey's Minder on the Independence Studio on 3 stage.

The Walnut welcomes back Scenic Designer Glen Sears (The Prince), Costume Designer Colleen Grady (Barrymore Award Winner - Fiddler on the Roof), Lighting Designer Shelley Hicklin (Barrymore Award Winner - Of Mice and Men) and Sound Designer Paul Winnick (Caesar's Palace O' Fun).

Season sponsors for the 2010-2011 Independence Studio on 3 Season are The Independence Foundation and Macy's. Media season sponsors are Philadelphia Weekly and WRTI Radio. Tickets are $30 and are now available at 215-574-3550 or 215-336-1234. Tickets are also available at WalnutStreetTheatre.org or Ticketmaster.com.