To those uninitiated with Neil LaBute’s theatre of cruelty, the opening could pass for a meet-cute: cool art student Evelyn (Amber Anderson) chats up bookish nerd Adam (Luke Newton), telling him she finds him attractive in the same breath as saying that she doesn’t like his hair. But Evelyn’s words are a warning sign as she sets about chillingly remoulding Adam from geek to good-looking boyfriend – from his clothes to nails and a nose job.
LaBute’s 2001 dark comedy was written for the stage before being adapted into the better-known film starring Rachel Weisz and Paul Rudd, and Nicky Allpress’s slick production reminds us of its innate theatricality.
The dialogue still sounds fast, fresh and funny, the cast catching its beats, although the savagery in the script never fully bares its teeth. The tension is better raised in matters of friendship and betrayal when Adam’s friends Phil (Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy) and Jenny (Carla Harrison-Hodge) enter the fray but some of the manipulations between Evelyn and Adam feel softened.
