America the Beautiful | King's Head Theatre

America the Beautiful is a collection of 10 short plays written by playwright Neil LaBute and directed by James Haddrell. These 10 plays have been divided into three chapters of three or four plays each, providing audiences with a chance to watch them all spread over a couple of weeks. Chapter one and two, each containing three plays, will be performed at the King's Head Theatre, and Chapter Three which contains four plays, will be performed at the Greenwich Theatre (who have co-commissioned the show).

The first play, Hate Crime, is performed by Liam Jedele and Borris Anthony York. The play interrogates the relationship between the two men as they hide an affair in order to successfully commit a murder and claim life insurance to help them live their "happily ever after". The play takes place in a hotel room as the two men fight their urges to give in and be together, instead charting a plan of action to successfully claim the life-changing settlement. The two men eventually decide to frame the murder as a hate crime against a gay man with a hefty and death-inducing violent assault. Although audiences never see the actual murder, only the conversation leading up to it, the graphic details are visceral enough to envision it occurring. 

Despite the innovative concept of America the Beautiful and the precious accolades, praises and decades of success for the playwright, the play Hate Crime unfortunately is a weak jumping point. The dialogues between the two characters are jarring and repetitive, with the plan being repeated several times and little else involved to forward what little plot the play contains. The concept of murdering for a life insurance payout, after months of a hidden affair, seems drastic, especially as the couple seem uninterested in pursuing a life together outside of a casual fling. 

The limitations of the play could perhaps have been overlooked with a believable chemistry between the two performers; however the show sadly doesn't achieve this either. Jedele, the man who will commit the actual murder, maintains a steady aggression that acts as a shield between the two, reducing any possibility to witness their romantic interest in one another. York, on the other hand, delivers a performance that feels so exaggerated that it becomes almost satirical of a stereotypical gay man, unfortunately further undermining the ability to believe them as a couple consumed by love or lust. 

The second play, Kandahar, is by far the strongest play of the three. Performed by York, the play is presented as a monologue as York stands at trial for murdering his girlfriend and fellow soldier for having a secret relationship. Addressing the audience directly as he explains why he was pushed over the edge to such violent means, York's performance is outstanding as his anger and betrayal steadily ripples through the theatre. York's ability for emotive storytelling really brings out the best in LaBute's powerful words, creating an impressive and gripping play. 

However, this play too is not without its damming flaws, most notably the extreme misogynistic tone. Whilst LaBute's writing has been reviewed under the critical lens many a time over the last couple of decades and he is well known for writing about darker characters, brutal honesty and a general negativity, this play leans a little too much into this territory to be fully appreciated or accepted by the stunned audience. The writing isn't as abrasive or offensive as to swear at York's character's girlfriend, but to discredit the larger sex claiming them to have "powers" and "able to control themselves whereas men can not" (paraphrased). With this explanation being at the foundation and heart of this monologue, it does make it quite hard to sympathise for York, despite his excellent performance. 

The final play of Chapter One, The Impossible, sadly joins Hate Crime as a bizarre play. Performed by Anna María and Maya-Nika Bewley, the play focuses on both women having a confrontation after yet another cheating scandal. The premise of the play falters with an idea so odd that audiences members ended up laughing at the absurdity, unintentionally making it the most enjoyable of the three plays. María's character sleeps with the boyfriend of Bewley's character in hopes of seducing Bewley's character. Notably the latter is a straight woman, and is thereby left just as confused as the audience by this confession. The majority of the play is spent trying to convince Bewley's character otherwise and to take a chance of a whole new perspective and relationship. The show's dialogue feels unnatural at times, and doesn't quite land as one would hope, rendering most of the dialogue as weird and cringey. María and Bewley do their best in their roles but there's little to redeem the shaky writing. 

There is very little connecting the three plays chosen for Chapter One: America the Beautiful, beyond the overarching theme of betrayal, affairs and doomed relationships. The plays do not contribute to one another, nor do they create a sense of intrigue or mystery for the following seven plays. In fact the three plays seem to be an attempt to live up to the name of the show, but there is very little to support the statement. 

The show's redeeming quality comes from the set, designed by Jana Lakatos. A small platform with a greyish-blue back wall with a few fades stripes of red across (either of paint or blood). The top left corner of this backwall is overrun by gunshots with the holes from the bullets evoking the spirit of the stars on the American Flag. This quiet but powerful statement, especially paired with Henry Slater's lighting design to illumate these holes, that really captures the essence of what the play is trying to be wordlessly. The set also includes a number of boxes that carry these red stripes and grey colour, that is transformed into various pieces of furniture including a coffee table, TV, bed, bench, podium and more between each play.

America the Beautiful is a fascinating concept, and a chance for fans of the theatre to watch a large variety of writings by Neil LaBute. Whilst Chapter One didn't necessarily feel particularly impassioned, there is still a biting brutality to the writing that can feel refreshing.

America the Beautiful: Chapter One is currently playing until 14th March at King's Head Theatre before Chapter Two takes over from 16th March to 21st March. Chapter Three will then take place at the Greenwich Theatre from 31st March until 04th April.

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three

★★☆☆☆ (2*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Ross Kernahan