Friday, September 28, 2007

Ode to the Enhanced

I love the Royal Court Theatre. In fact, I love it enough to endure the dreaded District Line to get there. And, yet again, the journey was worth it; this time for The Ugly One, a brilliantly clever and funny new play by one of Germany's hottest young playwrights, Marius von Mayenburg, opening the Royal Court's International Season.

As the play has already been reviewed in the mainstream press, I will avoid a plot rehashing. But, suffice it to say the main theme is society's obsession with plastic surgery and its resulting generic templates of beauty. With so many Botoxed, Propeciaed, Lasiked and breast-augmented around, the suggestion is that all individuality and identity is lost. Think Jessica Simpson. Who? Precisely.

So when the protagonist of The Ugly One turns to a plastic surgeon to refashion his 'ugly face' the implication is that he is breaking a basic human covenant: that we each suffer whatever genetics we were given. The assumption being that the playing field is fair in the big picture, that some of us are born beautiful smart and talented and it somehow gets balanced out by being Michael Lohan's daughter.

But is it really fair? Or rather is there not also danger in conforming to the idea there is danger in conforming? Is redesigning your body any more an affront to nature than wearing make-up or a Wonder bra? Shouldn't it be okay to use technology to compete? Think Barry Bonds. Shouldn't a man who can only hit a home run every once 16 at bats be allowed to hit a home run every nine bats? Or a politician use Botox to beat out a younger wrinkle-free opponent? Isn't that what Jefferson meant when he wrote that whole "pursuit of happiness" thing? Or do you really think the guy was just talking about stamps and tea?

The Ugly One
Royal Court, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
£10-£15, Until 13 Oct
020 7565 5000

20 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi CS. It does sound like an interesting and topical piece indeed.

Thanks for the indictation. i will try and make it.

12:25 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great post CS. The reviews have been excellent as well as you point out. The District Line is dreadful though well noted.
See you soon.

1:06 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It IS CERTAINLY a great show!
Go see it!

1:10 pm  
Blogger hungech said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

7:18 am  
Blogger chip said...

Great post CS. The reviews have been excellent as well as you point out. The District Line is dreadful though well noted.
See you soon.Real Estate Mississaugacoches usados baratos

2:31 pm  
Blogger sunghajung said...

IP addresses are binary numbers, but they are usually stored in text files and displayed in human-readable notations, such as 172.16.254.1 (for IPv4), and 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1 (for IPv6).The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages the IP address space allocations globally and delegates five regional Internet registries (RIRs) to allocate IP address blocks to local Internet registries (Internet service providers) and other entities.
male enlargement pills
macchine utensili usate

6:31 am  
Blogger qwadro_Binh said...

Hi. Your blog is so beautiful, it's very logical layout. I also want to make a good blog like yours but not impossible. I was lucky to Epson M2400 Tonercomputer support in londonknow your blog, I will visit often. This article is very interesting and meaningful. Thank you very much. Thank you very much!

10:06 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

BMW Control ArmTescoShe wanted me to be a writer. She said you can always write, no matter what you look like. When I was growing up she told me to be a little lady, and a couple of times I got a whack for crossing my eyes or making funny faces. Of course, she never, I never, dreamed I would ever perform

7:41 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

city hotels edinburghSEO Orlando FLThe plot of the episode centers on the honorable discharge and subsequent departure of the 4077th MASH's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake (played by McLean Stevenson).

6:44 am  
Blogger yeu_yeu said...

It is worth noting, however, that Leofric is sometimes attributed a black, single-headed eagle instead.[24]) The examples on the left are the official devices of the Mercian Regiment and the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry respectively. The latter, being a merged unit, also sports the Lancastrian red rose and crown.relogios maquina ETA
hypnosis Bournemouth

10:54 pm  
Blogger sunghajung said...

Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 12. ISBN 0310218950.
Car Hire Rhodes Airport

wine making supplies

3:01 pm  
Blogger sunghajung said...

The Greeks themselves at this period considered there to be three major divisions of all the Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians and Ionians (including Athenians), each with their own defining and distinctive dialects.
Dicalcium Phosphate Powder feed grade

Ventas Casas Mazatlan

3:55 pm  
Blogger sunghajung said...

The origins, early forms, and early development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of the lack of contemporaneous evidence. There are several theories about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language.
designer handbags on sales

Online Diary

4:08 pm  
Blogger sunghajung said...

Ancient Macedonian was an Indo-European language closely related to Greek, but its exact relationship is unclear because of insufficient data: possibly a dialect of Greek; a sibling language to Greek; or a close cousin to Greek, and perhaps related to some extent, to Thracian and Phrygian languages.
pet car seat

water ionizer

5:00 pm  
Blogger sunghajung said...

The study of Ancient Greek in European countries in addition to Latin occupied an important place in the syllabus from the Renaissance until the beginning of the 20th century. Ancient Greek is still taught as a compulsory or optional subject especially at traditional or elite schools throughout Europe, such as public schools and grammar schools in the United Kingdom.
holiday to mauritius

Plumbers bristol

5:37 pm  
Blogger sunghajung said...

Modern authors rarely write in Ancient Greek, though Jan Kresadlo wrote some poetry and prose in the language, and some volumes of Asterix have been written in Attic Greek and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has been translated into Ancient Greek.
North Vancouver Real Estate

Vaughan Condos

7:04 am  
Blogger hungech said...

An economy consists of the economic systems of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, production, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area.A given economy is the result of a process that involves its technological evolution, history and social organization, as well as its geography, natural resource endowment, and ecology, as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions.
uv lampe

Articles on relationships and Mental health

4:02 pm  
Blogger Unknown said...

Sony Vaio Cs P8600

HID headlightsibution, and consumption of goods and services of that area.A given economy is the result of a process that involves its technological evolution, history and social organization, as well as its geography, natural resource endowment, and ecology, as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functio

6:01 pm  
Blogger Unknown said...

wholesale full lace wigs

Filmes Gratis consists of the economic systems of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, production, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area.A given economy is the result of a process that involves its technological evolution, history and social organization, as well as its geography, natural resource en

6:38 pm  
Blogger hungech said...

The word "niche" is derived from the Middle French word nicher, meaning to nest. The term was coined by the naturalist Joseph Grinnell in 1917, in his paper "The niche relationships of the California Thrasher."[3] The Grinnellian niche concept embodies the idea that the niche of a species is determined by the habitat in which it lives.
sterling silver charms

Counseling Fremont Ca

3:34 pm  

Post a Comment

<< Home