Show reviewed:  fat
Playwright and Director:  Martha Maggio 
Date saw the show:  July 24, 2008
Place saw the show: Kansas City Fringe Festival,  Kansas City, Missouri
Principal Leads: Martha Maggio, Megen Mercer, Justin Knoll 

Reviewed by:  Deborah Ground Buckner (Kansas City Correspondent - USA)

Fat has the potential to be a truly great show, but at the performance I viewed, it still seemed a bit like a "work in progress."  Acting is still a little rough around the edges, and the transitions from one scene to another are not always smooth.  The ending came so abruptly that I think the audience was surprised.  The technical work seemed haphazard, with actors standing in the dark waiting for the spotlight to come up or the spotlight coming on before the actor was in place.  These are troublesome enough distractions to get in the way of the content, but they should be easy to remedy.

The content is important, meaningful and a necessary message to take to the world.  Martha Maggio displays great courage and personal insight in presenting this story of being overweight in a judgmental world.  With an upbeat attitude and no shortage of humor ("I walk by chairs and I can hear them silently praying 'Don't pick me!'"), she presents the internal struggle and the external pain each day brings.  She opens the play with Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer," then states, "I am an entertainer, an actress, and I wrote this play because nobody will hire me." 

Maggio's monologues are straightforward and candid.  She is supported by Megen Mercer (playing Maggio's mother, a nurse, and a younger version of Maggio) and Justin Knoll playing a boy at a college fraternity party.

A particularly poignant moment depicts a visit to the doctor's office.  The humiliation begins when she is handed the one-size-most-assuredly-does-not-fit-all gown to put on; Maggio's expression as she takes the garment speaks volumes.  Then she suffers through the nurse repeatedly shifting the weights on the scale until she announces the verdict:  460 pounds.  Then she hears the matter-of-fact delivery of the bombshell that she will have to lose 55 pounds before she can undergo weight-loss surgery!

Through the use of puppets, a technique her therapist recommends, she demonstrates a painful scene from childhood demonstrating her parents' tumultuous relationship.  She speculates the abuse she and her mother and siblings suffered from her father plays a major role in her inability to lose weight.  Why didn't her mother leave the man?  "He puts food on the table." 

Her mother continues to keep the relationship difficult, bombarding her with "helpful" articles on finding happiness and weight loss tips.  The harmful effect is evident when Maggio simply stops answering the door.

The use of self-deprecating humor is an effective tool in getting the message across.  One line bothered me, though.  There were two references to Maggio distinguishing herself from the "fat lady who rides the scooter at Walmart."  Since one of my dearest friends fits that description, I found the comment hurtful and was a bit surprised that such a line would be included in a play trying to present the pain of "the way people look at me." 

One of the best scenes involves Maggio giving advice to a young incarnation of herself (Mercer).  If only we could go back and help our earlier selves through difficult times. 

Everyone should walk away with one line etched in memory:  "I wish everyone of you wore your problems on your sleeve so I could outwardly judge you."  It is a reminder that we all have our issues that make us vulnerable to the judgments of the world.  Some of us just find them a little easier to hide.