LaBute play 'Pretty' explores appearance

Critics have dubbed him a misanthrope — a person who hates humankind.

That's a rather daunting title to have in the back of one's head when getting ready to call playwright, screenwriter and director Neil LaBute, nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play for "Reasons to Be Pretty."

A graduate of Brigham Young University, LaBute has ruffled more than a few feathers with his body of work that tends to explore the dark underbelly of human emotion and behavior. A writer for both stage and screen, some of LaBute's best-known works include "In the Company of Men" and "Your Friends and Neighbors."

"I'm not the greatest relaxer in the world," LaBute said in a phone interview from Chicago. "That's why I'm here. Just getting away. I finished shooting a movie, and I'm trying to take a break."

"Reasons to Be Pretty," the final installment of a trilogy based on society's obsession with physical appearance (the other two are "The Shape of Things" and "Fat Pig"), is about a man's off-handed remarks about the pretty new girl at work — and how his girlfriend pales in comparison.

"The offending remark is made in the garage of Greg's friend; they're working on a car," LaBute explained, "and his friend, who is an aggressive type, pushes along these conversations and gets Greg to say, 'Maybe my girlfriend is more plain, but I wouldn't trade her for a million dollars,' but his girlfriend is hearing, 'You're ugly.' "

"It's a gender-line thing," LaBute said. "I'm not much of a researcher, but I did ask a bunch of people about it and it fell pretty much universally on gender. Women gasp at cute; most don't even want to be called cute. They say, 'I want you to find me beautiful — there has to be something about me that you find beautiful, above everyone else.' "

LaBute sees his work as being mostly observation. "I think most writers are observant, and then I pull from my imagination with the scenarios I create. My job is to try to come up with something new and interesting — a variation on a theme that hasn't been seen before. I'm constantly asking, 'What's interesting?' "

Never forcing himself to write a certain quota or for a certain amount of time, "nothing is worse than staring at a blank computer screen," he said. "I like to live my life and I know when I want to write and when I sit down to do it, nothing else is more important than putting that story down."

"Reasons to Be Pretty" garnered Tony nods for Best Play and two performing nominations for actors Thomas Sadoski and Marin Ireland.

"I was in L.A. shooting a movie when my agent texted me at 5:30 a.m.," he said when asked about his nomination. "I said, 'Awesome,' and promptly went back to sleep since I had 30 more minutes I could eke out — and sleep was a premium."

But the writer has not given any thought to writing an acceptance speech. "That's a terrible game to play — I steer clear of that. We'll just see what the voters have to say."

But LaBute, whose casual chatting seemed nothing of a misanthrope, may not go to the Tony ceremony. "I might fall on the Paul Newman advice and steer clear … see what that brings me. Then I won't have to wear a tuxedo," he said, chuckling.

E-mail: ehansen@desnews.com