Ghostlight Theatre Club staging “Fat Pig”
Cristela Carrizales performs in a scene of Ghostlight Theatre Club’s production of Neil LaBute’s “Fat Pig.” (Photo by Victoria Stahl)
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Local actress Cristela Carrizales is thrilled to play the title character in Ghostlight Theatre Club’s latest production — even if the play is titled “Fat Pig.”
Or rather, because it’s titled “Fat Pig.”
“I was so excited about the opportunity to do it because I really liked the script. And I really thought it was realistic and really true to even some of the experiences I’ve had as a plus-size person all my life,” she said.
“Sizeism is so prevalent in society today, and it’s actually one of the accepted forms of bigotry. You know, people can still make the fat jokes and not get the job because they’re heavy … and I’ve been passed up for roles. It’s such an issue.”
Written by American playwright and filmmaker Neil LaBute, “Fat Pig” explores modern-day attitudes towards beauty as it delves into the romance between Tom Sullivan (Jeff Burleson), a handsome, successful 30-something businessman, and Helen Bond, a funny, smart and sexy librarian who happens to be plus-size. After a chance meeting at a cafeteria, Tom and Helen begin dating, to the dismay of Tom’s colleagues Carter (Patton Graves) and Jeannie (Bonnie Montgomery).
“They’re very much blatant about their disapproval of this relationship, that she’s a fat sow as Jeannie says,” Carrizales said. “So, Tom’s torn. He finds himself very attracted to this woman and she makes him happy, and yet he is basically getting mentally beat up at work about this relationship. …
“I play the heavyset person, but it’s really Tom’s journey. Helen is a catalyst to his journey; that is, do you follow society or do you follow your heart.”
The Ghostlight Theatre Club will stage its final two performances of “Fat Pig” at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at the club’s theater space in the Paseo Arts District. The comedy will make you laugh, squirm and think, Carrizales said.
Last year, Ghostlight performed LaBute’s “The Shape of Things” in its inaugural season. “The Shape of Things” and “Fat Pig” are two installments in LaBute’s trilogy of shows about America’s obsession with physical appearances. Ghostlight Artistic Director Lance Garrett hopes to stage the third, “reasons to be pretty,” in the future.
He said the production of “Fat Pig,” directed by Emily Etherton, has earned strong positive responses from audiences.
“It’s kind of a controversial subject,” he said. “People in the audience really genuinely connect with Cristela. … It is a role, I think, that she was born to play because she treats it with such tender emotion.”
For Carrizales, the play brings up issues that aren’t just personal but timely. TV shows such as “Drop Dead Diva,” “Dance Your A– Off,” “Ruby” and “More to Love” are showcasing curvy women. Glamour magazine earned the praise of thousands of readers after photographing model Lizzi Miller, 20, who wears a size 12 to 14, with her belly hanging over her bikini panties. The response was so enthusiastic, the magazine followed up with a photo shoot featuring Miller and several other plus-size models.
“It’s becoming so much more obvious that there are woman of size — and I say of size, that can vary from like size 12 to size 32 and plus — and there are more and more quote-unquote plus-size women in life and yet it still seems to be this huge issue when we put them on television,” Carrizales said. “This play really looks at … the reality of it.”
LaBute’s play puts the heavyset character not only in the title role, but also in a romance.
“It’s refreshing to have a character who is not traditionally played like the fat funny friend or the person who eats all the time,” she said. “She does make self-deprecating fat jokes but … she’s probably one of the most normal characters in the play.”
Carrizales, who is Mexican-American, hopes “Fat Pig” will encourage the theater community to take risks and cast performers who aren’t rail-thin or musclebound in lead roles, even when those parts don’t call for a heavyset actor.
“Twenty years ago, it was putting a black person playing Romeo with a white person as Juliet and we thought, ‘Ooh, that’s breaking ground,’” she said. “Now, I think, if all else is the same, why can’t we reflect onstage what’s in life. We’re very diverse people. I don’t think that it has to be a Gap ad every time we go to see a play.”
On stage
Ghostlight Theatre Club’s “Fat Pig”
When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday.
Where: Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N. Walker.
Information: 286-9412 or www.ghostlightokc.com.
-BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment