From Nov.12 to Nov. 15, the UWMC theatre put on a production of the controversial play, “Fat Pig.” The story follows the developing relationship between Tom and Helen. Because Helen is obese, they are viewed by everyone else as an “odd couple.”
On the night of the first performance, audience behavior was shameful and, I can easily imagine, painful for the actors and everyone else involved with the production. UWMC students in the audience were talking and texting throughout the play. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it seems this audience also found the premise of the play to be quite funny. They laughed at the lead character’s pain and made rude comments such as, “Oh gross, that dude’s making out with a fat chick.” We spoke to Director Sarah Rudolph about the play and the reaction to it.
The Forum: Why do you feel that “Fat Pig” is such an important play?
Sarah Rudolph: We all know that young women— well, women throughout their lives, but it is perhaps more painful for young women—are under a great deal of pressure to be thin. We are constantly bombarded with images of models who promote a rather unrealistic ideal—yet as models have become bonier, most of us have become heftier… The diet industry is a huge racket and, along with media, often influences women to yo-yo diet and never feel satisfied with who they are. While most men understand that few real women will look like Playboy centerfolds or models, there is a stigma attached to obese women that I think most men—consciously or not—buy into. [Neil] LaBute [the author of the play] claims his play is really about Tom’s (the male lead) inability to withstand the teasing and sneers of those around him and stay with Helen, a woman he loves who happens to be plus-sized. In the preface to the play, LaBute claims his interest in writing this work had to do with how hard it is to stand up for one’s beliefs, to be a hero. Tom ultimately fails at that.
F: How did the performances go?
Rudolph: I have to say that I was very proud of this all student cast. Given that there are only four characters in the show, each of them had to carry a good deal in terms of lines and scene work. The four students—Cadie Brusky, Cody Wesner, Jacob Hillberry, Lindsey Peshel—had a range of experience. […] I was impressed that all four of them grew a tremendous amount as actors throughout rehearsals and were able to create a strong ensemble that sustained their performances. We had very different houses (audiences) each of the four performances and—for a nonmusical with a small cast and serious themes—a good turnout. One of the most difficult things for young actors is to remain consistent and this cast managed to do that quite well. As you know—a lot of people know by now—our opening night was pretty rowdy. We had 56 UWMC students in the house that night, and it is great to have a large student turnout as the theatre program is really for them. Unfortunately, many of our students have seen little, if any, theatre like this—I am constantly surprised that many of the students I have, even in theatre class, have seen nothing but the high school musical—and there was lots of laughter. It became contagious and grew to the point where people were laughing even during scenes in which the jokes being made about fat women were intended to reveal peoples’ cruelty. Fairly or unfairly, it seemed that a lot of people were laughing at the expense of fat people—thus at the expense of the situation in which Helen and Tom found themselves. There is a scene in which there is a great deal of intimacy and people hooted and laughed at that, which I found disappointing, just as I did the way many laughed at the profanity being used on stage. At the time I was—as were many people in the audience and working on the production— just plain angry at the lack of sensitivity. In retrospect, however, I think this response stemmed from a lack of theatre etiquette and no familiarity with serious drama.
The amount of conversation that has been generated after this particular performance has proven far more important than the actual audience behavior during the show that night. […] Both in and outside of classes there has been a lot of reflection on theatre etiquette in general but also and more importantly on the reprehensible treatment of obese people. Friday night’s audience was so quiet it was almost a letdown. Saturday’s and Sunday’s were a good balance. […] We realized that we neglected to run the ‘turn off your cell phone’ announcement before Thursday’s performance, and one of the things that people who are not accustomed to live performance do is text, which is very distracting to other audience members and just not appropriate behavior, so we will certainly never forget that announcement again. […] We had talk backs after each performance and they were all very different in terms of how people perceived the play and all very rich in terms of thoughts/feelings expressed.
