The Shape of Things
Synopsis
Neil LaBute is no stranger to the darker side of human nature. In The Shape of Things, that darkness is undeniably there, but it’s simmering just underneath the surface until it boils over in a gut-punch ending. The four-character play explores how far someone is willing to go and how much they change for who (or what) they love. Two intertwined couples make up the story: the dating Evelyn and Adam and the engaged Phillip and Jenny. Evelyn is a graduate art student and Adam is an undergraduate English student at the same college who also works at a nearby museum as a security guard. Adam is a stereotypical nerdy guy--he’s an English literature major who has an appreciation for art and hasn’t had luck with women. He falls in love with Evelyn and willingly begins changing his physical appearance at her insistence. At first, it’s little things like losing some weight and letting his hair grow out. Then it becomes plastic surgery and cutting out his closest friends, all for what he thinks is the perfect relationship. But in life, like in art, appearances can be deceiving, and the truth is finally revealed in a gut-wrenching ending. Sometimes darkly
Neil LaBute's play "The Shape of Things"premiered at the Almeida Theatrein London The play consists of four characters and 10 scenes. At its premier, the show was directed by LaBute and has specific instructions to be performed without intervals or a curtain call. This play explores issues such as stoicism, art, psychopathy, intimacy and love. Other notable performances of the show were in New York City at the Bernie West Theaterunder the direction of Brian Rhinehart. It was also performed in London in at The Gallery Soho on Charing Cross Roadunder the direction of Tom Attenborough. "The Shape of Things" was also produced as a movie in LaBute directed the film himself.
Neil LaBute was born in in Detroit, MI. LaBute attended Brigham Young Universitywhere he received his undergraduate degree and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He is known for his contemporary plays that commonly push the envelope. While at BYU he produced several plays that were controversial, some of which were shut down after the premier. He was awarded "most promising undergraduate playwright" despite his numerous failures. He attended graduate school at the University of Kansasand
Press Quotes
&#;Any shrewd chap who finds his artist girlfriend has a video-camera in the bedroom to film the cut and thrust of their sexual action might well fear he was destined to end up as her artistic fodder. But in THE SHAPE OF THINGS, Neil LaBute&#;s absolutely chilling report from the sex war&#;s frontline, where stratagems for sexual humiliations are planned, Adam, the shy chap concerned, takes the video-camera, so to speak, lying down. LaBute, the remarkable American movie director and playwright whose film In the Company of Men showed a sexually unappealing woman exploited by two vengeful pretend lovers, now returns to this theme. This time it&#;s a man who&#;s the victim of female guile … LaBute meticulously plans that the shocking, climatic revelations should cast dark light upon his apparently average people.&#; —Nicholas de Jongh, The Standard
&#;[LaBute] continues to probe the fascinating dark side of individualism, whose ultimate evil is an inability to imagine the suffering of others … LaBute&#;s great gift is to live in and to chronicle that murky area of not knowing, which mankind spends much of its waking life denying. Where does truth end and fiction b
How far would you go for love? What concessions would you make? What price would you be willing to pay?
Such are the painful questions explored by Neil LaBute in his play and film 'The Shape of Things' - a modern day telling of the fall of man. After a chance meeting in a museum, Evelyn, a sexy aggressive artist, and Adam, a shy, insecure student, become embroiled in an intense affair. Before long, it veers into a kind of dangerous, seductive territory that LaBute does best, as Adam, under Evelyn's steady influence, goes to imaginable lengths to improve his appearance and character. Only in the final and shocking exhibition, which challenges our most deeply entrenched ideas about art and love, does Evelyn reveal her true intentions. This volume contains the original stage script for the play, which was also the basis for the film.
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Category | Full Length Play |
| Theme | Drama |
| Type | Script |
| Author | Neil Labute |
| ISBN | 0 8 |
| Music By | n/a |
| Adapted By | n/a |
| Based On | n/a |
| Male | 2 |
| Female | 2 |
| Cast | 4 |
| Type | Script |
| Performed By | Reading Group |
| Nationality | American |
| Royalty Play | Samuel French Ltd. |
| Reading Group | Yes |
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