Combining West African folklore and contemporary American culture, If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka follows four teenage girls as they grapple with societal definitions of beauty. In the fictional setting of Affreakah-Amirrorkah, the four young women - Kaya, Massassi, Adama and Akim - are given an opportunity to live in a society where their individual beauty can reign supreme. But this opportunity comes at a dangerous cost. Tori Sampson's hilariously provocative play doesn't ask the question "How much is beauty worth?" but rather, "Why are so many willing to pay its price?"

Raven, Leila, and Brooklyn Cartel have each found joy and success in the lives they have dedicated to the memory of their mother, Wanda. Referred to as "Wanda's Girls" for their entire lives, the Cartel sisters struggled to find the comforts they now enjoy-comforts their single mother pushed them to attain. They each want to be happy, but there's something in their way. Their father's negative actions in and subsequent absence from their lives affect each sister differently, but all three share a desire to have nothing to do with him or that side of their family. Enter Brandice Cartel. Younger than the three sisters she has just learned of, Brandice is mourning the death of the father she's admired and adored. She is happy to honor his dying wish: to locate her sisters and give them a special message from him. That is, until it becomes painfully clear that the older Cartel women want nothing to do with her. In a devastating turn of events, the sisters are forced to face the pain, heartache, betrayal, and love they share in an effort to attain true happiness. The Cartel women must ask themselves if happiness is what they really want ... or if bitterness provides them more comfort than they had realized.

Raven, Leila, and Brooklyn Cartel have each found joy and success in the lives they have dedicated to the memory of their mother, Wanda. Referred to as "Wanda's Girls" for their entire lives, the Cartel sisters struggled to find the comforts they now enjoy-comforts their single mother pushed them to attain. They each want to be happy, but there's something in their way. Their father's negative actions in and subsequent absence from their lives affect each sister differently, but all three share a desire to have nothing to do with him or that side of their family. Enter Brandice Cartel. Younger than the three sisters she has just learned of, Brandice is mourning the death of the father she's admired and adored. She is happy to honor his dying wish: to locate her sisters and give them a special message from him. That is, until it becomes painfully clear that the older Cartel women want nothing to do with her. In a devastating turn of events, the sisters are forced to face the pain, heartache, betrayal, and love they share in an effort to attain true happiness. The Cartel women must ask themselves if happiness is what they really want ... or if bitterness provides them more comfort than they had realized.