Sticking its fingers deep into the open wounds of relationships, Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things came to form last week, playing from Wednesday through Sunday at the CFA Black Box Theatre.
The play consists of only four characters: Adam (Patrick Cameron), Evelyn (Sarah Brown), Jenny (Valerie Yawien), and Philip (Jordan Levin). Adam and Evelyn meet at a museum, double date with couple Philip and Jenny, and, after a heated argument between Evelyn and Philip about the definition of art, the play takes off, putting the moral microscope brutally close to its four leads.
Directed by UB Professor of Theatre and Dance Robert Knopf, LaBute's overly intelligent insights come to simple yet vivid life thanks to Knopf's vision and the four impressive actor's comfortable execution. The intimate setting and up close and personal proximity of the audience only further helped the many conversations leap off of the page.
"I thought it was a really good play," said senior engineering major Tom Fernekes. "The ending was unexpected."
The play is essentially a montage of conversations that, when equated with each other, serve to analyze both the truth within relationships and the truth within art, LaBute paralleling the two topics through his character's actions.
"I thought the little comments were funny," said sophomore nursing major Paige Loewy, surprised by the amount of laughter in a play with such dramatic overtones.
Brown goes deep into her portrayal of Evelyn, an obnoxiously artistic individual whose opinions seem more important than her relationship with Adam, whom she molds into a completely different person - from complacent geek to confident hottie in a matter of weeks. The actress channels Rachel Weisz's take on Evelyn, Weisz starring in the film version of the play, written and directed by LaBute himself.
For most of the play, Cameron's Adam functions as the resulting dust from the storm that is Evelyn. That being said, Cameron succeeds at playing the morally confused male lead, constantly changing both physically and psychologically. Through Adam, LaBute poses the question: how much does physical change affect both you and those around you?
This question is one of many asked in the near-constant dialogue, which lasts for two and a half hours, not including the intermission. Ironically, while most all of the talking is engaging and appropriate, it is the play's climax that feels dragged out; Evelyn rehashes the same points again and again, as if through repetition the audience would somehow understand the play's themes more deeply.
"Some parts were a little wordy towards the end," Loewy said.
LaBute has made a career of writing long-winded examinations of real life situations, and The Shape of Things is no exception. Each conversation with the play starts off rather normally; whether it's a simple relationship talk between friends Adam and Jenny or an after-sex dialogue between Adam and Evelyn, by talk's end, skeletons come rumbling out of the closet for both the characters and audience.
Not to be forgotten, Levin's Philip and Yawien's Jenny are extremely important to the play. Unfortunately, Levin overplays Philip a bit, yelling lines when a minimal raising of the voice would have sufficed. While the exaggerated performance was a bit awkward at times, it worked nicely against Jenny's near unbearable politeness throughout much of the play. Yawien embraces her character's humble nature perfectly, making her fall from grace that much more tragic.
While the play may turn some off with its talky-talk nature and dangerously close to pretentious conversations, it is ambitious. Through its theme concerning the definition of art, the play offers itself up onto the chopping board, forcing its viewers to define art's worth, using the play as exhibit A. Fortunately, our stars are up for the challenge, echoing the ambition through their realistic performances.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
