MCC Theater has canceled the upcoming production of Reasons to be Pretty Happy by Neil LaBute and is terminating his tenure as its playwright-in-residence, effective immediately. Representatives for the company declined to comment further.
MCC, which is currently producing J.C. Lee's play Relevance at the Lucille Lortel Theatre Off-Broadway, will be announcing a new play to complete the current season in the coming weeks.
MCC has produced a number of LaBute’s plays and has collaborated with the playwright for more than 15 years. The company has worked with LaBute on Fat Pig, The Mercy Seat, The Distance from Here, Reasons to be Pretty which transferred to Broadway and received a Tony nomination, and the 2016 solo play, All The Ways To Say I Love You, starring two-time Tony winner Judith Light.
The world premiere of LaBute’s Reasons To Be Pretty Happy, directed by Leigh Silverman was set to close out the 2017–2018 season. In his newest play, the playwright revisits the characters first introduced in Reasons to be Pretty and Reasons To Be Happy.