Neil Labute

BashThree darkly brilliant one-act plays, unblinking portraits of the evils abroad in everyday life, first performed in 1999. 'You don't need to be familiar with Greek tragedy to admire LaBute's ability to illuminate the dark corners of the human mind . . . He writes with unblinking candour, unvarying incisiveness and the ear and eye for the tiny, telling fact that reveals a character floundering on the edge.' The TimesReasons to Be PrettyNominated for the Tony Award for Best Play, Reasons to Be Pretty explores love, language and power with fresh wit and insight.'Neil LaBute at his best. It says things about love and betrayal that are rarely put on stage . . . The play has the transfixing nastiness that has made LaBute one of the most disturbing theatrical presences of the last decade. Yet it also has an unexpected ingredient: a beating heart.' ObserverNow collected with its sequel, which follows the same four loveable characters - Reasons to Be Happy'A richly entertaining shard of tragicomedy . . . a snap survey of American masculinity in crisis.' Daily TelegraphIf I Needed SomeoneA drunken first date becomes an acutely observed dance of desire, expectation and consent. 'For all of its misunderstandings, misperceptions, and bristles, for all the insecurities and past hurt it opens for both characters, If I Needed Someone is the kind of first date that people looking for love dream of having.' Broadway WorldHow to Fight LonelinessA married couple call on a third man to help them make a desperate decision, in this compelling and unsettling drama. How to Fight Loneliness received its UK premiere at the Park Theatre, London, in April 2025. 'A play that will force you to consider your own sense of mortality . . . starkly devastating.' Spectrum

This powerful anthology brings together reflective and raw plays by American playwrights surrounding the psychic and political boundaries of the many faces and shadows of terrorism. Allan Havis’s introduction addresses a variety of terrorism cases from the last 25 years, examines several theories of the root causes of modern terrors, and underscores how theatre forms a unique contour to social and philosophical thought on terrorism. With a foreword from Robert Brustein, the anthology features: Break of Noon by Neil LaBute 7/11 by Kia Corthron Omnium Gatherum by Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros Columbinus by PJ Paparelli and Stephen Karam Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them by Christopher Durang

This powerful anthology brings together reflective and raw plays by American playwrights surrounding the psychic and political boundaries of the many faces and shadows of terrorism. Allan Havis’s introduction addresses a variety of terrorism cases from the last 25 years, examines several theories of the root causes of modern terrors, and underscores how theatre forms a unique contour to social and philosophical thought on terrorism. With a foreword from Robert Brustein, the anthology features:Break of Noon by Neil LaBute7/11 by Kia CorthronOmnium Gatherum by Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-VassilarosColumbinus by PJ Paparelli and Stephen KaramWhy Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them by Christopher Durang

'LaBute takes us to shadowy places we don't like to talk about, sometimes even to think about.' NewsdayObsession with surface and secrets runs through this second collection of Neil LaBute's work. The Shape of Things peels back the skin of modern-day relationships to ask how far someone might change themselves for love, or for art. In Fat Pig, a man confronts his friends' - and his own - fixation with Hollywood ideals of beauty when he falls for a 'plus size' young woman. In a Dark Dark House and In a Forest, Dark and Deep are twin tales of sibling conflict. In the first, estranged brothers must reconcile conflicting memories, after one asks for corroboration of childhood abuse. In the second, a man's offer to help his sister clear out her cottage brings a terrible confession into the light. The Shape of Things'What initially seems a touching study of student romance develops instead into a passionate discussion about the way art feeds on life.' Daily TelegraphFat Pig'As large as Helen is, the tender heart of the play is easily twice as big.' VarietyIn a Dark Dark House'LaBute toys with expectations and takes pleasure in our discomfort... The play does lead to a pretty dark place - but the ending is not without hope.' Daily MailIn a Forest, Dark and Deep 'It is billed as being about sibling rivalry, but in fact majors on far deeper, dangerous things: the yearning to be understood, female manipulation, and fascinated male disgust at a sister's lurid sexuality.' The Times

Three years after a difficult breakup, Steph and Greg are wondering if they can start over again. The trouble is, she's married someone else and he's started a relationship with her best friend Carly. Meanwhile, Carly's ex-husband Kent wants her back, and even more so when he hears about her new romance with his best friend Greg. As emotions run high, all four find themselves entangled in a web of hidden agendas and half-truths in their pursuit of a happy life. A companion piece to the acclaimed Reasons to Be Pretty, Neil LaBute's Reasons to Be Happy received its UK premiere at Hampstead Theatre, London, in March 2016.

Award-winning playwright Neil LaBute's powerful adaptation of Georg B chner's Woyzeck embraces the glittering darkness of the play's violent, erotic, inhumane world and uncompromisingly makes it his own. Woyzeck's girlfriend, Marie, by whom he's fathered a child; Marie's overpowering desire for the alluring Drum-Major; and the murderous outcome of this oppressive admixture of circumstances comprises one of the bleakest works of world literature. It is also considered by many to mark the beginning of modern drama. From his opening in an operating theatre and then scene by macabre scene, Neil LaBute imbues this classic with his singular intensity and moral vision, as he takes it to its nightmarish conclusion. Included in this volume is LaBute's provocative new monologue "Kandahar," in which a soldier back from Afghanistan calmly explains his devastating actions of the day before. A gripping stand-alone piece, this short work is also a trenchant modern-day exploration of the potent and enduring themes of Woyzeck.

Filthy Talk for Troubled Time is one of his earliest plays. A downbeat night at a topless bar exposes the gulf between the twitchy clientele and the waitresses who serve but despise them. The Mercy Seat examines a couple who, on the day after a world-changing atrocity, toy with exploiting it to start a new life. Some Girl(s) follows a young writer's panicked retreat from his imminent wedding as he seeks out old girlfriends and opens new wounds, while in This Is How It Goes the breakdown of a seemingly successful marriage is complicated by submerged bigotry and hatred. The collection also includes two short plays about relationships in crisis - A Second of Pleasure and Helter Skelter - which are in equal part tender and chilling. Together these plays form a complex and compelling portrait of the sexes - sometimes warring, sometimes loving, but never fully at peace.

In the provocative two-hander Some Velvet Morning, award-winning playwright Neil LaBute continues to explore the nuances of gender relationships, creating a powerful work of sharp and subtle contrasts. Fred tells Velvet he's finally left his wife to be with her, news to Velvet since she hasn't seen him in years and is now friends with Fred's recently married son. Hopes dashed, Fred engages Velvet in a mesmerizing conversation brimming with passion, remorse, humor, and anger. As power shifts and tension mounts, the young and beautiful Velvet and the older, volatile Fred revisit a shared history, and the twisted heart of their relationship is slowly revealed in a stunning climax.

Reasons to Be Happy by Neil LaBute is a sharp, witty, and emotionally charged exploration of love, relationships, and the complexities of modern life. Set in a small American town, this sequel to Reasons to Be Pretty follows the intertwined lives of four characters as they navigate the turbulent waters of romance, friendship, and personal growth. Greg, Steph, Carly, and Kent pick up their lives three years later but in different romantic pairings as they each search desperately for that elusive object of desire: happiness. As old flames reignite and new relationships form, each character must confront their own insecurities and desires, leading to moments of both heartache and humor. LaBute's incisive dialogue and keen observations on human behavior make Reasons to Be Happy a testament to the complexities of love and the enduring quest for happiness.

Greg is overheard admitting that his girlfriend Steph is no beauty, but that he wouldn't change her for the world. She is devastated; he can't see what he's done wrong. Meanwhile, Greg's friend Kent alternates between boasting about how gorgeous his wife Carlyis and chasing after a hot new colleague. The final part of Neil LaBute's 'beauty trilogy' (following The Shape of Things and Fat Pig) about society's obsession with looks, Reasons to Be Pretty premiered in the UK at the Almeida Theatre, London, in November 2011.'[The Shape of Things] is LaBute's thesis on extreme feminine wiles, as well as a disquisition on how far an artist can go in the name of art . . . Like a chiropractor for the soul, LaBute is looking for realignment, listening for the crack.' Elle'A heart-warming tale from America's master misanthrope.' Independent on Fat Pig

Your career as a writer is blossoming, your beautiful, young fianc e is waiting to get married and rush off to Canc n by your side - so what is your natural reaction? Well, if you're a man, it's probably to get nervous and start calling up old girlfriends. And so begins a single man's odyssey through four hotel rooms, as he flies across the country in search of the perfect woman (whom he's already broken up with). In grand LaBute fashion, this by turns outrageously funny and deadly serious portrait of the artist as a young seducer casts a truthful, hilarious light on a typical young American male as he wanders through the heart of darkness that is himself. " LaBute's] view of modern men and women is unsparing ... He] is holding up a pitiless mirror to ourselves. We may not like what we see, but we can't deny that - if only in some dark corner of our souls - it is there." -Jacques le Sourd, The Journal News "LaBute ... continues to probe the fascinating dark side of individualism ... His] great gift is to live in and to chronicle that murky area of not-knowing, which mankind spends much of its waking life denying." -John Lahr, The New Yorker

It was so simple, just a few little bits in his diary, files that he kept in longhand with all his thoughts and wishes and dreams. Bobby thinks he's simply lending his sister a hand with clearing out her cottage in the forest. But it's a dark and stormy night and his sister has a secret. I know it can't be that bad, whatever was the reason this guy left here in such a hurry... In a Forest, Dark and Deep by Neil LaBute premiered at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, in March 2011.