<DIV>Neil LaBute is arguably the most challenging, provocative, and acclaimed playwright of his generation. <i>Lovely Head and Other Plays</i> brings together his most masterful and affecting recent shorter works.<br><br> The title play, which had its American premiere at La MaMa in 2012, rivetingly explores the relationship between a nervous older man and a glib young prostitute, as their evening together drives toward a startling conclusion.<br><br> Also included is the one-act play <i>The Great War</i>, which looks at a divorcing couple and the ground they need to cross to reach their own end of hostilities; <i>In the Beginning</i>, which was written as a response to the Occupy movement and produced around the world in 2012-13 as part of Theatre Uncut; <i>The Wager</i>, the stage version of the film <i>Double or Nothing</i> starring Adam Brody; the two-handers <i>A Guy Walks Into a Bar</i>, <i>Over the River and Through the Woods</i>, and <i>Strange Fruit</i>; and two powerful new monologues, <i>Bad Girl</i> and <i>The Pony of Love</i>.</div>