The Ugly One - TNT

In less than an hour — about the time it takes a TV reality show to make someone look 10 years younger or give them an extreme makeover — German playwright Marius von Mayenburg debunks the prevailing myth that beautiful is always best. The staging wittily reflects the value of content versus surface trappings, with Ramin Gray's fluid production being played out as though in rehearsal. A stage manager sits silently on the sidelines and the four excellent actors (three of whom flick seamlessly between multiple roles) are casually dressed. The focus is on Michael Gould's Lette, a married man who has always been oblivious to his ugly face until his boss refuses to let him make a public presentation on the grounds that his hideous appearance would be totally unacceptable. Lette goes under the knife, and the potential consequences of drastic plastic surgery are wittily explored to the point of absurdity in this clever, niftily constructed satire on the lure of superficial perfection and the drawbacks of physical conformity.
Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, Sloane Square, SW1 (020-7565 5000) £15, except Mondays £10. Until October 13