The Ugly One

In Marius von Mayenburg’s Kafkaesque black comedy, industrial engineer Lette (Alfredo Narciso) discovers he's been hideous-looking all his life. He embarks on a cosmetic odyssey of plastic surgery, sudden sex appeal and deeper issues about the normative forces in society. Daniel Aukin directs a crackerjack cast in this grotesque, amusing parable.—David Cote