The Ugly One

February 2–27, 2012
GermanyU.S. Premiere
"You are ugly. It’s a fact. I can’t believe you didn’t know."
Meet the Artists

Marius von Mayenburg (Writer) was born in Munich in 1972. He is a playwright, translator, dramaturg, director and one of the most widely produced German playwrights. He attended the Royal Court Theatre International Residency for Young Playwrights in 1998, the same year in which he became a member of the artistic directorate at the Baracke, the studio theatre of the Deutsches Theatre in Berlin. In 1999 he went with Tomas Ostermeier to work as Playwright-in- Residence and Artistic Director respectively at the Berliner Schaubuhne am Lehniner Platz. His plays regularly receive productions at the Schaubühne/Berlin, the Royal Court Theater/ London, and other major theaters around the world. In 1992, Mayenburg began his studies in dramatic writing at the Academy of the Arts in Berlin. His first play Fireface (Feuergesicht), written in 1997, premiered at the Kammerspiele in Munich and was subsequently produced at the Kleist Theater in Frankfurt (Oder) and at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg. Since then the play has been successfully produced worldwide and translated into many languages. For Fireface, Mayenburg received the Award for Emerging Playwrights (Kleistförderpreis für junge Dramatiker) and the prize of the Frankfurt Writer's Foundation (Preis der Frankfurter Autorenstiftung). Mayenburg's oeuvre includes more than ten plays; all of them have been produced in Germany as well as worldwide. He is currently dramaturg and playwright in residence at the Schaubühne/Berlin. The Ugly One had its English language premiere in 2008 at The Royal Court in London.

Daniel Aukin is a New York based director. He has directed world premieres by Sam Shepard, Melissa James Gibson, Joshua Harmon, Abe Koogler, Dan LeFranc, Michael Friedman, Itamar Moses, Amy Herzog, Mark Schultz, Mac Wellman, Quincy Long and Maria Irene Fornes. Formerly the Artistic Director of Soho Rep. in New York (1998-2006) where he developed and produced premieres by Richard Maxwell, Young Jean Lee, Thomas Bradshaw, Adam Bock, Anne Washburn and Jordan Harrison among many others. He has participated in development programs at Sundance Theater Lab, the O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference and New York Stage and Film. Upcoming: Emily Feldman’s The Best We Could (A Family Tragedy) and David Adjmi’s Stereophonic. He has three Obie Awards.

Maja Zade (Translator) was born in Germany and grew up in Sweden. She studied English Literature at London University and at Queen's University, Canada, then theatre production at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. From 1997-99 she was Senior Reader at the Royal Court Theatre, London. Since 1999 Zade has served as dramaturg at the Schaubuehne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin. Translations of plays from Swedish and German into English include works by playwrights Lars Norén, Roland Schimmelpfennig, Falk Richter and Marius von Mayenburg; and from English into German works by Caryl Churchill, Lars von Trier and Arnold Wesker.

Steven Boyer Broadway: I'm Not Rappaport, Off-Broadway: Hand to God (Ensemble Studio Theatre, returning Feb 29th), School for Lies (Classic Stage Co), The Coward (LCT3), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (The Public), Enjoy (Play Company), Lenin's Embalmers (EST), Misalliance (The Pearl), Jollyship the Whiz-Bang (Ars Nova), Oliver Twist (TFANA), Richard III (Classic Stage Co). I <3 Kant (Committee Theater). The Mooncalf (Abingdon), Which Wolf is Which (Partial Comfort); Regional: Productions at A.R.T, Berkeley Rep, Berkshire Theater Festival, Capitol Rep, Coconut Grove, Ford's Theatre, Hartford Stage, Humana Festival at Actors Theater of Louisville, Merrimack Rep, McCarter, Papermill, Shakespeare Santa Cruz. TV/Film: "The Share", "Person of Interest", "Law & Order", "Ed", Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best. Training: Juilliard. Steven is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and a resident artist with Studio 42. He is also a standup comedian and comedy writer who has performed all across the country.

Andrew Garman Broadway: Salomé (Actor's Studio/Barrymore Theater). Off-Broadway: Burning (The New Group), A Bright New Boise, After, The Bereaved (Partial Comfort), Uncle Vanya (CSC), Cymbeline (Delacorte/NYSF), Hamlet (The Public), The Water Project (Epic Theater), The Wii Plays (Ars Nova), Whore (SPF), Trueblinka (Maverick Theater), Macbeth (HERE), Puss (Performing Garage), The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Bald Soprano (LaMaMa), Trojan Women: A Love Story (EnGarde Arts). Film/TV: Julie & Julia, Simple Revenge, South Dakota, Groomed, Celemy, Wilderness, Ode to Elaina, "Mercy," "Law & Order," "L&O: CI," "Conviction," "Six Degrees," "All My Children."

Lisa Joyce Broadway/West End: La Bete. Off-Broadway: Thinner than Water, The Forest, Love, Loss and What I Wore, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play, Beast, U.S. Drag, Vengeance, Red Light Winter. Regional: Touched (Williamstown), Blackbird (Studio Theatre D.C., Helen Hayes Award), Red Light Winter (Steppenwolf), We are Not These Hands (German Theater Abroad), The Grapes of Wrath (Syracuse Stage). National Tour: Doubt. Film: The Brave One, The Messenger. TV: "The Good Wife", "Boardwalk Empire", "Fringe", "Law and Order", "Law and Order: SVU", "Kidnapped". Education: The Theatre School, DePaul University. Upcoming: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again, based on work by David Foster Wallace, directed by Daniel Fish and Wallace Shawn's adaptation of The Master Builder, directed by Andre Gregory.

Alfredo Narciso Broadway: The Motherf**ker With the Hat (LAByrinth/Public/Gerald Schoenfeld Theater), A Streetcar Named Desire (Roundabout/Studio 54). New York: After (Partial Comfort), Thinner Than Water (LAByrinth), Measure for Measure; Chair (TFANA), Safe (Studio Dante), Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons), Ivo Van Hove's Misanthrope (New York Theater Workshop), Microcrisis (Ma-Yi), Edgewise (Play Company/Page 73), among others. Regional: A.R.T. (Elliot Norton/IRNE nominations), Huntington (IRNE nomination), Two River, Long Wharf, HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Sundance Theater Lab, among others. Film/TV: Elliot Loves, Living & Dining, The Guys, "Blue Bloods", "Unforgettable", "Person of Interest", "Law & Order", "L&O: CI", "Ugly Betty", among others. Recipient of the Charles Bowden award. Member of LAByrinth Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theater and Partial Comfort Productions. www.alfredonarciso.com

Eugene Lee (Set Designer) holds BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon, an MFA from Yale Drama School, and three honorary doctorates. He has been the production designer for NBC's Saturday Night Live since 1974. He has received three Tony Awards, for Leonard Bernstein's Candide, Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and Stephen Schwartz's Wicked. Other honors include the American Theatre Wing's Design Award, the Outer Critics' Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Pell Award, and the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence. He was recently inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in New York. He is currently represented, not only on Broadway, but also internationally, by the musical Wicked, with six companies currently performing worldwide. Other New York work includes The Normal Heart, Agnes of God; Showboat; Ragtime; Ruby Sunrise; Grandchild of Kings; A Moon for the Misbegotten, The Designated Mourner; The Hairy Ape; A Number, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You; Beast, A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Homecoming, You're Welcome, America; Book of Grace; and Compulsion. Films include Coppola's Hammett, Huston's Mr. North and Malle's Vanya on 42nd Street. He lives with his wife Brooke in Providence, where they raised their two sons.

Set Designer as Associate Set Designer for theater, film and tv in NYC.
Long-time set designer at The Naples Players Theater in Naples, Florida.

Theresa Squire (Costume Designer) is the resident costume designer for the Drama Desk Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman). She has designed for Soho Rep (Blasted directed by Sarah Benson). The Atlantic Theatre Company (The Lietutent of Inishmore directed by Wilson Milam, The Cherry Orchard, directed by Scott Zigler, and lonesco's The Bald Soprano & The Lesson in new versions by Tina Howe, directed by Carl Forsman), Barrow Street Theatre (Orson's Shadow directed by David Cromer and Two Men Talking directed by Dan Milne). The New Group (Rafta Rafta directed by Scott Elliot, Sin: (A Cardinal Deposed), Everything's Turning into Beautiful, both directed by Carl Forsman and Accomplices directed by lan Morgan), The Flying Machine/Soho Rep (Frankenstein, Signals of Distress, Utopians all directed by Joshua Carlebach), The Hourglass Group (Trouble in Paradise directed by Elyse Singer, Beebo Brinker Chronicles directed by Leigh Silverman), Chautauqua Theatre Company (Ah Wilderness! directed by Lisa Rothe), New World Stages (Elvis People directed by Henry Wishcamper), Writer's Theatre of Chicago (Crime and Punishment directed by Michael Halberstam), and 2nd Stage (Peter and Jerry directed by Pam MacKinnon). She just finished working on a full-length dance piece, Remember Me, with Parson's Dance and East Village Opera Company. Squire's costumes were seen on Broadway in High Fidelity and The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

Matt Frey (Lighting Designer) With Soho Rep Matt has collaborated on Orange, Hat, and Grace, [sic], Suitcase, and Peninsula. Recent work includes Close Up Space (Manhattan Theatre Club); 7 Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Two River Theatre); This (Center Theatre Group & Playwright's Horizons); Middletown (Steppenwolf); Go Back To Where You Are (Playwright's Horizons); Futura (Portland Center Stage); Woodysez (London's West End); Freefall (Corn Exchange, Dublin). Other companies he has collaborated with include Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Ridge Theater, Rattlestick, Naked Angels, The New Group, Manhattan Class Company, New York Theatre Workshop, and Paper Mill Playhouse, as well as many other theaters, regional and abroad.

Matt Tierney (Sound Designer) Recent: Kin, This (Playwrights Horizons); That Face (MTC); Blasted (Soho Rep Hewes Award, 2009). With Elevator Repair Service: The Select (The Sun Also Rises). The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928) (NYTW- Lortel Nom., 2009). Other credits: NYTW, A.R.T., Alley Theater, Woolly Mammoth, BAM, Center Theatre Group, Soho Rep, Ridge Theater (including Decasia; Jennie Richee - OBIE, 2001). Former associate artist of The Wooster Group: Hamlet (The Public Theater - Lortel Nom., 2008), There is Still Time Brother, Who's Your Dada?! (MOMA), The Emperor Jones. With Young Jean Lee's Theater Company: LEAR, THE SHIPMENT, CHURCH.

Lette is a talented engineer. But his boss won’t let him go to the conference to present his electrical plug. This whip smart social satire from one of Germany’s most exciting contemporary playwrights uses daring theatricality to explore a world where nothing can be taken at face value.

The Ugly One is a tight, light hour of scouring entertainment, smartly sculpted down to its very bones…
–Vulture

This fashionably slick work resonates in a modern world…
–New York Post

At roughly 60 minutes, the Kafkaesque satire sprints along without hammering its points into triteness…” –Time Out

Written by

Marius von Mayenburg

Directed by

Daniel Aukin

Translated by

Maja Zade

Featuring

Steven Boyer Andrew Garman Lisa Joyce Alfredo Narciso

Set Design

Eugene Lee

Costume Design

Theresa Squire

Lighting Design

Matt Frey

Sound Design

Matt Tierney

Production Stage Manager

Davin De Santis

Venue

Soho Rep 46 Walker Street New York, NY