REVIEW

"You're a good man, Tom. Good, and brave, and strong."

It's easy to say those things in the throes of early love. It's more painful to realize they aren't true.

Helen, the woman who says them, is ostensibly the Fat Pig of the title in Neil LaBute's play. She's also its hero, brought to flesh and blood and effervescence by Jenni Graham in Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company's production.

Most of LaBute's plays are about powerful cruelty, but Fat Pig is about weakness, primarily Tom's. He's an attractive young corporate something who meets Helen when they share a table at a lunch joint. She's cheery, blunt and flirty, joking about her size.

Tom, played by Jeremy Make, is an average bloke who's pulled toward Helen's energy, and by the end of lunch, they have a date. Date turns to dating, and the two become utterly smitten with each other - even as Tom avoids taking her anywhere in public.

The romance is sweet, playful and involving. Graham and Make create a physical chemistry for the couple, and their relationship pulls us into the story.

Its weakness, however, comes from the source of its crisis. Tom's seemingly only friends are two co-workers who are creeps nearly without redemption. Jeannie, played by Kate Avallone, is a jilted ex (whether it was a fling or a relationship remains unclear) who turns into a cardboard-cutout psycho shrew. Her only purpose in the play, it seems, is to spew anger and look hot.

Only slightly more complex is Carter, played by Brian Landis Folkins, a piggish co-worker whose nearly first words are about Jeannie's getting fat - this is, of course, a world where all women's bodies exist only for assessment and critique.

It's not surprising that Tom is timid about introducing Helen to these two reprobates, but it is surprising that he a) maintains contact with them and b) has no other friends.

Most interesting, though, is the dynamic between Helen and Tom. As written and played, she's the far more attractive character, full of playfulness, sexuality and sensitivity. He, on the other hand, is cute and appreciative of her. That may point to her own superficiality - her appreciation of a cute guy may outweigh her ability to assess how she feels about him.

Graham is a wonder here. She's not just full of personality; she also somehow becomes physically less attractive as Helen allows herself to feel her insecurity (those self-inflicted fat jokes don't quite hide it).

Director Stephen Weitz does fine character work, particularly with the two leads, but he's saddled with a second act that's an unsatisfying, quickie resolution of the involving first. The conclusion says the words we've been thinking all the way through, so it doesn't offer any surprises or new knowledge. Brian Miller has designed a set that's so minimal as to barely suggest environments and one that must be awkwardly pulled on and off the wings for each scene.

LaBute may not have completed his thought well, but audiences will, because he's provided plenty of fodder for conversation. He's created a nimble theatrical romantic comedy - not easy to do - with a dark heart that reminds us that the easiest time to be nasty is when you're young and pretty.

bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5101

Fat Pig

* Grade: B+

* When and where: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 23, Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder

* Cost: $10 to $20

* Information: 303-440- 7826