We saw Fat Pig last night. For those of you who care to read a review, you may do so by clicking here or here.

Overall, they play was as I expected, which is to say wonderful. Helen could win over any man. Throughout the better half of the play, both Toby and I thought to ourselves “She’s not a very big girl.” And I’m guessing the director/playwright did this on purpose. In the last scene, when she’s vulnerable and in her bathing suit, the viewer is forced to figure out just how shallow they really are. It’s not every day a play talks to you.

(Ashlie Atkinson as Helen aka Margaret Thrasher on the Gotham Girls Roller-derby team)

The acting was spot on. But I think Steven Pasquale stole the show. Considering he (from what I have read) had some pretty big shoes to fill. He did a superb job. There were times, while he was on stage, that I forgot I was surrounded by people and in a dark theater on Christopher Street.

That doesn’t mean everyone else wasn’t great, too. Andrew McCarthy (Less than Zero and a dozen of other important 80s films) played Carter. His character reminded me a bit of the (more) male chauvinistic character in In the Company of Men

Jessica Capshaw (The Practice) was pretty good, too. Especially considering it was her first theater performance.

(I wonder how long it will be before the theater gets annoyed that I’m snaking their bandwidth.)

I won’t go into the plot too much on the off chance others reading this will venture out to see it. Instead, I will talk about Lebute. This play took the more (to implement Toby’s word) graceful route compared to Lebute’s other plays. Granted, I haven’t seen them all, but it seemed as that this time around he was trying to actually teach us all something about ourselves. In the past, while watching his movies/plays, I have felt like a voyeur watching one person totally manipulate and (at times) destroy someone else’s life for personal gain of some kind. This time the story wasn’t like that. Instead, you’re left feeling kind of angry with yourself for passing judgment of any kind.

If you’re in the area, go see it before it ends on the 26th.

After we left, we headed around the corner to eat at a swank vegan restaurant called Gobo. There, I had a shot of wheat grass and we consumed a large number of deep fried vegan dumplings, setan nuggets, and tofu chicken. For desert, we had chocolate cake, an excellent way to call it a sweet night.

Tonight (having nothing to do with the play we just saw as I made this appointment prior), I have a date with a personal trainer at the NYSC. And I’m actually nervous about it. I am acting like it’s an interview or that I won’t be able to perform. I asked Toby what it is I should wear, and how long it will take and whether the trainer will abuse me. That said, I’m sure I’ll have a story or two to tell tomorrow.