Jen Stephenson, Jason Witter and Scott Bryan

LaBute has the best ear for colloquial conversation—in a certain stratum of society, at least: office workers, city dwellers, factory guys, not too rich, not too poor. I haven't seen everything he's written, by any means, but in what I have seen, I've never heard a line of dialogue that sounded phony. Even when speeches overflow with expletives, they still sound natural (unlike the stylization of, say, David Mamet).

But his plays are tough. Tough on the characters, tough on the audience. They leave you feeling like you've been punched in the gut. Fat Pig makes you feel that way, for sure, but it breaks your heart a little bit too.

It's the story of a young better-than-average-looking office guy named Tom (exactly what the company he works for does is a mystery, as is so much of corporate America nowadays). He bumps into a librarian, Helen, at lunch and finds himself attracted to her, despite her being significantly overweight. Attracted not just to her personality, but to all of her.

You can imagine how this goes over back at the office, especially because he's dumping his sort-of girlfriend, the attractive Jeannie from accounting, for this "fatso". His co-worker Carter, whose job is an absolute mystery, is the kind of LaBute character you just want to smack in the face, and yet a lot of what he says is the kind of true stuff that we don't want to hear.

No more about the plot. I encourage you to see if the ending feels as right to you as it did to me. And there are plenty of other good reasons to see this show. All four actors are terrific; Debi Kierst has done a superb job in casting and directing them.

Scott Bryan is one of my favorite local actors (heck, not just local, but anywhere). I think this is his best performance ever, because it doesn't seem like he's acting at all. Playing Tom, everything is well-observed, like the way he keeps almost imperceptibly buttoning and unbuttoning his suit coat, the way any nervous guy would. Scott often does comedy, but he stretches his range here to great effect.

Jen Stephenson is intelligent and charming and sympathetic and totally natural as Helen. Jason Witter as Carter plays obnoxious perfectly, not afraid to make himself almost completely unlikeable. The role of Jeannie could come off as a jilted bitch, but Kate Costello makes her confused, hurt, angry—in short, human.

The set by Thane Kenny, props by Virginia Ludwig, and costumes by Erin Moots are in sync: The corporate world is black, gray, and purple (I'm not sure why purple, but it looks good). Helen's world is in color, and Tom's wardrobe lightens up the more time he spends with her. I don't know if this is Debi Kierst's idea or a collaborative vision, but it's very sharp.

The lighting by Shannon Flynn (operated by Nikki Nevitt) is excellent, especially the scene in which Tom and Helen are lit by the flicker of a television. I should also mention stage manager Natalie Wilding and the crew who effect the scene changes quickly and easily. I liked the snippets of contemporary songs played between scenes; I don't know who chose them, but they got lucky that the current John Legend hit has the line "love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections."

One of the excellent exchanges in the play goes something like: Tom to Helen: "What do you want me to say?" Helen: "How about the truth?" Tom: "I was hoping for something easier." LaBute doesn't make it easy for us, which is one reason I think this is such a good play. Good play, good acting, good directing—I can't recommend this highly enough.

Fat Pig by Neil LaBute is being presented at the Vortex Theatre in Albuquerque through May 11, 2014. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 2:00. Info at vortexabq.org or 505-247-8600.

Photo: Debi Kierst

--Dean Yannias