Growing up is hard to do, and it is harder still for Charlotte, an American high school student whose mother has died leaving her with her morose, emotionally clumsy father, who tells Charlotte that, unlike her beautiful dead mother: "You're just not very pretty honey." With those words ringing in her ears Charlotte sets out to be as beautiful, beloved and desired as Helen of Troy - a project that involves using lots of "product" to clear her acne, trying to get the local geek to have sex with her, giving a blow job to the school jock, and telling the bewildered school guidance counsellor that she plans a career in porn.
"I was made for sex," she declares, looking about 10 as she sits awkwardly in her frumpy shorts and over-sized T-shirt. This girl on the loose is dangerous - to herself and others - and things pretty soon turn ugly as fantasy and reality, Charlotte's self-image and how others really see her collide in emotional car-crash fashion. People get badly hurt.
Mark Schultz's script has a rich vein of teen-movie sassiness. Some of the best scenes are between the dowdy Charlotte and her glammed up (imaginary) best friend, Heather, a prom-queen good-looker with the best boyfriend, the best dad, the best holidays and the worst possible advice. But Gordon Anderson's production doesn't always successfully juggle the delicate balance between the comedy and the grim reality of Charlotte's home life, and the evening would be less confusing if fantasy and reality were more clearly delineated.
Despite some good performances, particularly from Andrea Riseborough as the gawky Charlotte and John Sharian as the dad who dare not touch his daughter, the production lets the audience off the emotional hook, and the message - that beauty is only skin-deep and a once-a-week application of fake tan doesn't make you any happier - is no more profound than anything peddled by Hollywood or teen chick-lit.
· Until November 26. Box office: 0870 429 6883.
