In the spotlight: "The Ugly One"

The Ugly One

Opens Saturday: German playwright Marius von Mayenburg's comic shocker is also a boon to small theaters such as Walking Shadow Company because its eight characters can be played by four actors for a simple reason: Many of them are supposed to look alike. The title character is a gifted engineer who is told he's too ugly to present his discovery at a conference. He responds (as one does) by having radical facial reconstruction, which is so successful that others in the play follow suit. Von Mayenburg investigates the beauty myth and our mania to reinvent ourselves in a play that has won acclaim around the world. (7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. Tue., 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Fri., Open Eye Theatre, 506 E. 24th St., Mpls., $26-$38, walkingshadow.org.).

Chris Hewitt