(Original Title: Der Häßliche)
by Marius von Mayenburg
translated by Maja Zade
directed by Amy Rummenie
Feb 1 – 16, 2020
Open Eye Theatre
506 E 24th St, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Lette is a great guy. But his wife and his boss think he’s unspeakably ugly. (If only they had told him sooner!) Shocked to realize just how hideous he is, Lette goes to a plastic surgeon for a total facial overhaul. Suddenly everyone wants his face, literally. But whose face is it really?
The Ugly One is an absurd comedy of identity, appearance, and individuality.
Pioneer Press Review — “The Ugly One” is currently receiving a crisply paced production from Walking Shadow Theatre Company, a fleet 65-minute excursion into contemporary German absurdism that skewers superficiality and asks some interesting questions about identity and appearances… Director Amy Rummenie makes one wise decision after another, keeping the pace swift and the tone teetering on the edge of absurdity at all times. (Read more)
City Pages’ A-List — Theater doesn’t always need to play coy. “In The Ugly One, we’ve dropped all subtlety,” says director Amy Rummenie. “It tears along at farce-like speed, and the wit is razor-sharp. It’s a nearly dizzying script, using sharp character turns to veer from scene to scene without pause.” … With scene changes “in the blink of an eye,” she adds, “this will have to be all about the action.” (Read more)
Performance Times
- Saturday, Feb 1, 7:30 – Opening night with post-show reception
- Sunday, Feb 2, 2:00 – Matinee [Super Bowl in the evening]
- Tuesday, Feb 4, 7:30 – Pay What You Can performance
- Thursday, Feb 6, 7:30
- Friday, Feb 7, 7:30 – post-show discussion
- Saturday, Feb 8, 7:30 – ASL Interpreted
- Wednesday, Feb 12, 7:30 – Audio Described
- Thursday, Feb 13, 7:30
- Friday, Feb 14, 7:30 [Valentine’s Day]
- Saturday, Feb 15, 7:30 – post-show discussion
- Sunday, Feb 16, 2:00 – Matinee, Audio Described, Closing
Content Warnings
The Ugly One contains adult content, surreal humor, and depictions of pressure to conform to an arbitrary standard of beauty. Please contact us with any specific questions about content.
Runtime
The Ugly One runs approximately 70 minutes without intermission.
Cast
Lette — Sean Dillon
Fanny — Julie Ann Nevill
Scheffler — Edwin Strout
Karlmann — Corey DiNardo
Production Team
Director — Amy Rummenie
Sound — Thomas Speltz
Lights — Tony Stoeri
Set and Props — Sarah Brandner
Costumes — Kathy Kohl
Stage Manager — Brian Hirt
Intimacy Director — Tom Ringberg
Assistant Director — John Heimbuch
Audio Describer — Laurie Pape Hadley
ASL Interpreter — Rosalinda Estrada-Alvarez
ASL Interpreter — Sarah Brown
Image credit — cubstock
All performances of The Ugly One occur at:
Open Eye Theatre
506 E 24th St
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Open Eye Theatre is located 2 blocks south of Franklin Ave on the east side of 35W (between 5th Avenue and Portland Avenue).
Free parking is available in the lot on the southeast corner of 24th Street and Portland Avenue, courtesy of Lutheran Social Services.
Construction
Please be aware that ongoing construction on 35W and surrounding streets and bridges will affect your route to Open Eye. Please allow extra time getting to the theatre. We recommend using map apps to navigate to the theatre, following posted detour signs, and consulting MNDOT for current projects.
Press Release
January 20, 2020
Contact
John Heimbuch, Walking Shadow Theatre Company
john@walkingshadowcompany.org
Walking Shadow examines beauty and identity in Marius von Mayenburg’s zany dark comedy: The Ugly One
The Ugly One
(Original Title: Der Häßliche)
by Marius von Mayenburg
Translated by Maja Zade
directed by Amy Rummenie
Starring Sean Dillon, Corey DiNardo, Julie Ann Nevill, & Edwin Strout.
February 1 – 16, 2020 at Open Eye Theatre
Lette is a great guy. But his wife and his boss think he’s unspeakably ugly. (If only they had told him sooner!) Shocked to realize just how hideous he is, Lette goes to a plastic surgeon for a total facial overhaul. Suddenly everyone wants his face, literally. But whose face is it really? An absurd comedy of identity, appearance, and individuality.
The Ugly One is a madcap dark comedy about the lengths we’ll go to become who we think others want us to be, and the way appearance shapes our identity. Are we ourselves intrinsically? Or are we who we are because of how others perceive us? As Lette’s quest for physical perfection reshapes his life, the world also reshapes around him. Suddenly things that were out of reach become easy. Soon his face is appearing everywhere – and it’s not always even his! The Ugly One uses its absurd situation and relentless pace to turn the very notions of beauty and identity upside-down.
Marius von Mayenburg is a German playwright and dramaturg. His 1997 play Fireface (German: Feuergesicht) was his breakthrough as a dramatist. It was produced extensively within Germany and won numerous prizes. The Ugly One (Der Häßliche) was written in 2007.
The cast includes Sean Dillon as Lette (the titular Ugly One); Edwin Strout (Walking Shadow’s Equivocation) as Scheffler (Lette’s boss), and also as Scheffler (a surgeon); Julie Ann Nevill (Walking Shadow’s The Whale) as Fanny (Lette’s wife) and also as Fanny (a rich old lady) and also as Fanny (the surgeon’s assistant); and Corey DiNardo as Karlmann (Lette’s assistant) and also as Karlmann (the rich old lady’s son).
To be clear, that’s four actors playing eight characters with only four names between them.
Walking Shadow founding member and Co-Artistic Director, Amy Rummenie directs. The Ugly One is the 30th production she has directed for Walking Shadow. Previous directing credits include Open, Equivocation, 21 Extremely Bad Breakups, Red Velvet, The River, The Christians, A Midwinter Night’s Revel, The Coward, The Whale, Gabriel (2015 Ivey Award for Overall Excellence), The Three Musketeers, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, and Park Square’s production of School for Lies by David Ives.
The creative team includes sets and props by Sarah Brandner, costumes by Kathy Kohl (A Midwinter Night’s Revel, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Caligula, 36 Views), lights by Tony Stoeri (Open, Equivocation, Gabriel, The Sexual Life of Savages), sound by Thomas Speltz (Equivocation, Gross Indecency, Red Velvet). Co-Artistic Director John Heimbuch assistant directs.
About Walking Shadow Theatre Company:
Since 2004, Walking Shadow Theatre has created well-staged and carefully-researched independent theater. Walking Shadow has won two Ivey Awards for Overall Excellence for its productions of Gabriel and Compleat Female Stage Beauty. Other popular productions include Open, Red Velvet, A Midwinter Night’s Revel, The Coward, The Whale, our original adaptation of The Three Musketeers at the Guthrie Theater, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, Jon Ferguson and John Heimbuch’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and The Transdimensional Couriers Union by John Heimbuch. Walking Shadow is also currently running the ongoing immersive puzzle show Cabal by David Pisa & John Heimbuch. The Ugly One is Walking Shadow’s 48th production, and the second show in its 16th season.
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The Ugly One production image by Dan Norman, featuring Sean Dillon and Edwin Strout.
The Ugly One production image by Dan Norman, featuring Edwin Strout and Julie Ann Nevill.
The Ugly One promotion image by John Heimbuch, featuring Edwin Strout and Sean Dillon.
The Ugly One production image by Dan Norman, featuring Edwin Strout and Sean Dillon.
The Ugly One production image by Dan Norman, featuring Edwin Strout and Sean Dillon.