The Ugly One: dark comedy about beauty and plastic surgery comes to Arcola Theatre
What would you do if changing your face meant changing your life? German playwright Marius von Mayenburg’s dark comedy The Ugly One arrives at Arcola Theatre this November, directed by Ramin Gray, who first staged the play at the Royal Court nearly 20 years ago.
The story follows Lette, a successful engineer who discovers that his appearance is considered so off-putting that he cannot even present his own invention at work. He decides to undergo plastic surgery. The result is a handsome new face that makes him an overnight sensation. Soon, however, everyone wants the same look, and Lette finds himself losing control of the very thing that made him special.
First performed in 2007, The Ugly One takes aim at society’s obsession with physical appearance and the idea of beauty as something that can be manufactured. Its jokes about cosmetic surgery, image and identity have found fresh relevance in an age of Instagram filters, face-altering apps and increasingly standardised beauty ideals.
Gray returns to the play with an international cast for Broken Nose Theatre, the London company behind recent productions of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband and Maciej Wojtyszko’s The Revival. The company brings together performers and theatre-makers from British and European traditions.
German Segal plays Lette, alongside Anastasia Velique as Fanny and Michael Tcherepashенets as Scheffler. The play is written by von Mayenburg and translated by Maja Zade.
The Ugly One runs at Arcola Theatre’s Studio 2 from 17 November to 19 December 2026.
Presented by Broken Nose Theatre
Directed by Ramin Gray
Arcola Theatre | Studio 2| 17 November – 19 December 2026
Tickets are available from Arcola Theatre.
Elena Leo is the Culture & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
