Aesthetic values challenged by a modern Frankenstein
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday March 24, 2011
NEIL LABUTE'S The Shape of Things is a gender-reversed Pygmalion with a nasty sting in its tail.Dorky literature major Adam, working off his student loan in an art gallery, is wowed and seduced by an older and threateningly vivacious art student, Evelyn. He turns to putty in her hands and soon he's hitting the gym, losing weight, changing his hairstyle and his clothes. At her quiet insistence, this nice Jewish boy even submits to a nose job.All of which is profoundly unimpressive to Adam's former roommate Phillip, who dislikes Evelyn's effect on his old buddy. Phillip's fiancee, Jenny, can't take to Evelyn either, especially when Adam's transformation begins to awaken dormant feelings.The Shape of Things develops in a series of short scenes, most of which are dedicated to the building of a trap - which you'll likely see coming, thanks to LaBute's insistent references to Mary Shelley, Oscar Wilde and G.B. Shaw. Along the way, LaBute questions our obsession with image and the validity of a stream of art practice typified by Tracey Emin, whose Everyone I Have Ever Slept with - or at least the idea of it - seems to have caught this playwright's cynical eye at some point.Sam Haft's production is clear and clean although the scene changes are frustrating at times.The performances are good, if just short of what's needed to make this piece sing as sharply as it could. Adam's evolution is well handled by Tim Reuben. Phillip is a typical LaBute type (combative, slippery) and Graeme McRae makes a decent fist of it. Cat Dibley finds the sweetness and pain in Jenny's predicament, and Rebecca Martin is compelling as the girlfriend from contemporary art theory hell.
© 2011 Sydney Morning Herald