Jody Christopherson
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| Rotimi Agbabiaka, photo by Joan Marcus |
“When people compliment your looks, do you say thank you?” That question was ringing in my ears as I stepped out of If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka, Tori Sampson’s bold, uncompromising new play at Playwrights Horizons. Because yes, I absolutely do, but as Sampson goes on to ask: why? It’s a sobering thought that we aren’t responsible for our physical beauty or, on the flip side, our physical ugliness. A world-changing thought even. If I could convince myself to believe that, I imagine it would do wonders to the way I conduct myself in our appearance-based world of impossible beauty standards. In Tori Sampson’s If Pretty Hurts we get to share 110 intimate minutes with four Black teenage women who live in that world, or a slightly heightened version of that world called Affreakah-Amirrorikah. A take on a West African folktale, Sampson weaves a tale that is rooted in tradition yet strikingly contemporary in a way that suggests that the importance of beauty is a tale that is truly as old as time.
Akim (Níkẹ Uche Kadri) is the most beautiful girl in her village. It’s a fact. And yet she is lonely, confined to her house and chores by an overbearing Dad (Jason Bowen) and hardened Ma (Maechi Aharanwa) with a handy dandy cell phone (a dazzling Rotimi Agbabiaka) as her only friend. Beautiful Akim, Gorgeous Akim; she is their jewel and must be kept on a shelf where nobody can mess her up. Akim’s classmates Massassi (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy), Adama (Mirirai Sithole) and Kaya (Phumzile Sithole) are also aware of the hierarchy in the village, and when Kasim (Leland Fowler), the village charmer, starts to pursue Akim over his previous flame Massassi, it feels to the girls inevitable in a way that launches them into a crusade to take down the star of the show for good. But how do you make a beautiful girl ugly? How do you break someone who can’t help but be the “best?”
By rooting the play in African folklore, Tori Sampson opens her world to magic that amplifies the circumstances of her characters and makes the things that seem world-ending to teenagers actually approach a real-life equivalent. But somehow through it all, she never fails to capture the pain of comparison, the scary deep sting of jealousy and the nightmare of realizing that as Akim’s Ma says, “the exterior is where it begins.” And yet all the while, she encourages us to laugh. The humor in the story says: don’t feel sorry for these women. Laugh with them, live with them, watch them grow. Leah C. Gardiner’s playful direction sets both actor and audience at ease and when paired with Raja Feather Kelly’s raucous choreography something euphoric and cathartic comes to life. We watch the young women travel between moments of self-doubt and self-realization, a journey every woman understands too well.
The village of Affreakah-Amirrorikah is bursting with life thanks to Dede Ayite’s colorful costume design (which seamlessly melds traditional African garments with contemporary silhouettes), vibrant hair and wig design from Cookie Jordan and playful lighting design from Matt Frey. Backed by an empty canvas of bright, shiny runway lights from scenic designer Louisa Thompson and paired with Ian Scot’s heart-pounding original music and haunting vocals from Carla R. Stewart, the show is rollicking from the start and a brilliant celebration of Africa and womanhood. And the cast of If Pretty Hurts is joyful, powerful and utterly beautiful. The four girls are particularly wonderful in a series of moving monologues where, in moments, they boil down the insecurities that so many women experience, look you in the eye and say yeah, me too.
“I am beautiful” is a mantra heard in If Pretty Hurts and one that so many of us have repeated into a mirror once or twice or a million times in our own lives. But Tori Sampson got me thinking: who decides what beauty is? How do we claim it for ourselves? When will I look in the mirror and believe what I repeat every day? Maybe it’s not that easy. And maybe that’s ok.
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| Phumzile Sithole, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Mirirai Sithole, photo by Joan Marcus |
If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka
Written by Tori Sampson
Directed by Leah C. Gardiner
Choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly
Featuring Rotimi Agbabiaka, Maechi Aharanwa, Jason Bowen, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Leland Fowler, Níkẹ Uche Kadri, Mirirai Sithole, Phumzile Sithole, Carla R. Stewart
Scenic Design: Louisa Thompson
Costume Design: Dede Ayite
Lighting Design: Matt Frey
Original Music and Sound Design: Ian Scot
Hair and Wig Design: Cookie Jordan
Press Representative: Blake Zidell & Associates
Production Stage Manager: Alyssa K. Howard
Remaining performances through March 31st : Tues-Wedn at 7pm, Thurs-Fri at 8pm, Sat 2:30pm and 8pm, Sun 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Tickets $49-89
Playwrights Horizons
416 W. 42nd St.
New York, NY10036
https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/shows/plays/if-pretty-hurts-ugly-must-be-muhfucka/
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 is the most beautiful girl in her village. It’s a fact. And yet she is lonely, confined to her house and chores by an overbearing Dad (Jason Bowen) and hardened Ma (Maechi Aharanwa) with a handy dandy cell phone (a dazzling Rotimi Agbabiaka) as her only friend. Beautiful Akim, Gorgeous Akim; she is their jewel and must be kept on a shelf where nobody can mess her up. Akim’s classmates Massassi (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy), Adama (Mirirai Sithole) and Kaya (Phumzile Sithole) are also aware of the hierarchy in the village, and when Kasim (Leland Fowler), the village charmer, starts to pursue Akim over his previous flame Massassi, it feels to the girls inevitable in a way that launches them into a crusade to take down the star of the show for good. But how do you make a beautiful girl ugly? How do you break someone who can’t help but be the “best?” By rooting the play in African folklore, Tori Sampson opens her world to magic that amplifies the circumstances of her characters and makes the things that seem world-ending to teenagers actually approach a real-life equivalent. But somehow through it all, she never fails to capture the pain of comparison, the scary deep sting of jealousy and the nightmare of realizing that as Akim’s Ma says, “the exterior is where it begins.” And yet all the while, she encourages us to laugh. The humor in the story says: don’t feel sorry for these women. Laugh with them, live with them, watch them grow. Leah C. Gardiner’s playful direction sets both actor and audience at ease and when paired with Raja Feather Kelly’s raucous choreography something euphoric and cathartic comes to life. We watch the young women travel between moments of self-doubt and self-realization, a journey every woman understands too well. The village of Affreakah-Amirrorikah is bursting with life thanks to Dede Ayite’s colorful costume design (which seamlessly melds traditional African garments with contemporary silhouettes), vibrant hair and wig design from Cookie Jordan and playful lighting design from Matt Frey. Backed by an empty canvas of bright, shiny runway lights from scenic designer Louisa Thompson and paired with Ian Scot’s heart-pounding original music and haunting vocals from Carla R. Stewart, the show is rollicking from the start and a brilliant celebration of Africa and womanhood. And the cast of If Pretty Hurts is joyful, powerful and utterly beautiful. The four girls are particularly wonderful in a series of moving monologues where, in moments, they boil down the insecurities that so many women experience, look you in the eye and say yeah, me too. “I am beautiful” is a mantra heard in If Pretty Hurts and one that so many of us have repeated into a mirror once or twice or a million times in our own lives. But Tori Sampson got me thinking: who decides what beauty is? How do we claim it for ourselves? When will I look in the mirror and believe what I repeat every day? Maybe it’s not that easy. And maybe that’s ok. Phumzile Sithole, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Mirirai Sithole, photo by Joan Marcus If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka Written by Tori Sampson Directed by Leah C. Gardiner Choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly Featuring Rotimi Agbabiaka, Maechi Aharanwa, Jason Bowen, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Leland Fowler, Níkẹ Uche Kadri, Mirirai Sithole, Phumzile Sithole, Carla R. Stewart Scenic Design: Louisa Thompson Costume Design: Dede Ayite Lighting Design: Matt Frey Original Music and Sound Design: Ian Scot Hair and Wig Design: Cookie Jordan Press Representative: Blake Zidell & Associates Production Stage Manager: Alyssa K. Howard Remaining performances through March 31st : Tues-Wedn at 7pm, Thurs-Fri at 8pm, Sat 2:30pm and 8pm, Sun 2:30pm and 7:30pm Tickets $49-89 Playwrights Horizons 416 W. 42nd St. New York, NY10036 https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/shows/plays/if-pretty-hurts-ugly-must-be-muhfucka/ 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}){kind=link}