Theatre critics define American playwright Neil LaBute as a ‘chronicler and analyst of our times’ (Capital Weekly). His plays and film writing reflect people’s anxieties and obsessions of today. The comedy Fat Pig has been hugely successful. Critically acclaimed in the USA, it was also nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

The play tells the story of Tom, a young professional in the big city, who quickly loses any interest in the women he usually dates. An impromptu meeting at a restaurant takes Tom into uncharted territory as he develops a crush for a brash plus-size librarian. How will Tom deal with peer pressure, the whispers behind his back, office gossip and mocking glances. What choice will he ultimately make – will he give up on love caving in to public opinion or will he remain defiant, challenging everyone, keeping his new girlfriend, while his colleagues resort to vicious name-calling as the one in the play’s title?

Stayko Murdzhev builds a world that looks like a boxing ring, in which people keep fighting for self-assertion and supremacy, with everyone being always on the alert to launch an attack or spring to self-defence. While focusing on these feisty characters’ vulnerability, the director  raises the question: ‘What do we choose – real love, not the flashy and glamorous kind, or a glamorous label devoid of meaning.”