2nd Wednesday Theater: Fat Pig

2nd Wednesday Theater: Fat Pig

February 10

Second Wednesday Theater at Cotuit Center for the Arts presents a staged reading of “Fat Pig” by Neil Labute on Wednesday, February 10, at 7:30 PM in the Art Studio.

Tom loves Helen. Really loves her. She’s smart, pretty, and has a great sense of humor. But she’s also fat. Tom’s co-worker Carter and ex-girlfriend Jeannie discover the affair and are merciless in their derision of the “fat pig.” For Tom, that just may be a deal breaker… or will true love conquer all?

“Neil Labute’s works are designed to provoke an emotional reaction from the audience,” said director Jess Wilson, “and because of that, many of his pieces leave us a little uneasy. They hit close to home.”

“Fat Pig,” which debuted on Broadway in 2004, is the first of Labute’s trilogy of plays about contemporary society’s obsession with physical appearance. “We are so focused on appearance and the way things look,” said Wilson. “The title, and the way the play evolves, makes people uncomfortable, but it’s a good uncomfortable. It holds a mirror up to human nature and says, ‘Hey guys, this is what we do.’

“Hopefully it will lead people to think, which is really the goal of theater, to let people enjoy the world of the character, but to get them thinking about how we live our lives,” Wilson said.

Garrett Olson of Pembroke plays Tom. “He’s a wonderful actor in both film and theater,” said Wilson. “This is such a good piece for him, about the weakness of this one character, what it means to love, and whether someone can be honest and truthful in that love and not be swayed by the superficiality that surrounds them.”

Bobby Genereau of Plymouth is Carter, Tom’s co-worker, “a very unlikeable character in many ways, yet at the same time, he is someone we all know well,” said Wilson. Genereau appeared in the 2nd Wednesday Theater production of “Meridian Summer” and just completed a run of “Any Given Monday” at Theatre One Productions in Middleboro.

Victoria Smith is Jeannie, Tom’s ex-girlfriend and co-worker. Smith appeared in the CCftA’s recent production of “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” and just finished performing in “Lend Me a Tenor” at the Falmouth Theater Guild.

Wilson will take on the role of Helen, a likeable and down-to-earth woman. “It’s definitely a role I have wanted to play, and the piece has a message I think is very important and powerful” said Wilson. “My goal is to portray Helen as an archetype; she’s every woman who ever felt as though she doesn’t fit society’s mold of what we should be—which is basically every woman.”

Wilson, who lives in Onset, recently directed “12 Angry Men” at Plymouth Community Theater and “Cabaret” for Buzzards Play Productions in Wareham. She is the artistic director for Watermelon Alligator Theatre Company in Wareham. She has appeared in numerous plays in the area, most recently as Titania in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for Shakespeare on Vacation in Onset and as Suits in “Ladies at the Alamo” with Theatre One Productions in Middleboro.

Second Wednesday Theater is a monthly play-reading series of rarely performed classics, undiscovered gems, and exciting new works. 

Wednesday, February 10 at 7:30pm
in the Art Studio
FREE admission!