LaBute knows the territory well, having been seriously overweight himself — a condition he says he tried to alter before realising being plump and miserable inspired him to creativity. In his latest creation, then, we see Tom’s instant, although to him baffling, attraction to Helen, a bright, witty and sexy woman, who is what Americans coyly refer to as "plus size". It doesn’t take long for Tom’s office buddies Cater and Jeannie (who is also his ex-girlfriend and really rather displeased that he now finds a fat woman attractive, for what does that say about her?) to start the mockery — the "fat pig" of the title. Nobody could ever accuse LaBute of unnecessary sensitivity, but many of the play’s lines — witty and well written though they undoubtedly are — cause a collective intake of breath among the audience before the laughter comes.
