Does falling in love come without any caveats? Most lovers might say yes, but people around them may think otherwise, and that’s what the play Fat Pig explores. Written by American playwright Neil LaBute, this Outer Critics Circle Award-winning play (Outstanding Off-Broadway Play 2005) will be staged by city-based theatre company Mad Hats Theatre.
Plus-size love
Avinash Muddappa plays Tom Sullivan, an adman, who runs into Helen Brooke played by Shatarupa Bhattacharyya, at a restaurant. Helen is a plus-size librarian who is candid about her weight and how the world perceives her. It’s this honesty and openness that strikes a chord with the adman. They exchange numbers and start dating.
“It’s after a long time that Tom has enjoyed meeting a woman who is so interesting, engaging and full of life, and this is what pushes him to date her,” says Puneet Gupta, the director of the play. However, when Tom’s friends get to know about his relationship with this woman, whom they call ‘Fat Pig’ things turn ugly for both lovers. The romantic comedy follows how a plussize woman is ridiculed about the way she looks and how her lover is discouraged from dating her.
Beyond appearances
The play questions beauty norms as defined by society. Puneet says even he has judged people based on their looks and this play made him introspect. “This play deals with body shaming but the idea can be applied to our prejudices about homosexuality, skin colour and other such differences as well,” he says. The set also tries to represent different ideas metaphorically. Designed with black and white cubes and some splashes of other colours, it’s abstract and yet conveys more than what meets the eye.
Puneet explains, “The cube is considered the perfect shape. But it has been used to convey the idea of right versus wrong shapes,” explains Puneet. There are also several mirrors placed at strategic points on the set as an indication of reflection of thoughts in the characters and audiences minds.
Rs 300. Saturday and Sunday. At Alliance Francaise, Vasanthnagar
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