Neil LaBute is one of America’s most provocative and interesting playwrights. His best-known work, The Shape of Things, was made into a movie starring Rachel Weisz and Paul Rudd. America the Beautiful consists of nine plays in three chapters, the first two of which are being staged at King’s Head, the third at the Greenwich Theatre. This complex arrangement sends a signal that LaBute is a mercurial and elusive artist whose fans must chase across London to savour the full richness of his talent.

The lesbian stares and leers aggressively while her victim cowers and bleats in protest

The lesbian stares and leers aggressively while her victim cowers and bleats in protest

The first show, Chapter 1, consists of three unconnected skits about sexual jealousy. In ‘Kandahar’, a cuckolded soldier explains why he took revenge after learning that his wife had cheated with a comrade. How did he find out? Well, his brother-in-arms showed him a computer containing his wife’s disloyal emails. A rather simplistic plot device. Lazy even. The references to Afghanistan feel dated and the soldier comes across as defensive, arrogant and downright nasty. Not a shred of warmth here.

‘The Possible’ is an absurdist drama about a predatory lesbian who seduces a man and spends the night with him in a........

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