The Shape of Things - Park Theatre

Saw this at today's matinee, and it hit hard, and funny, just as it should. Luke Newton and Amber Anderson are terrific as the two leads, Adam and Eve!

Some spoilers follow. . .

I've missed seeing LaBute plays, typically a bunch of Harold Pinter style power play conversations, shifted into more naturalistic and believable settings than you'd generally get with the more mysterious Pinter.

Back in the day, I had wanted to see the conclusion to the "Reasons" Trilogy, which had starred Tom Burke in the first two parts this side of the pond, but that play, along with LaBute himself, was cancelled on the other side of the pond for unstated reasons.

And since those reasons remain unstated years later, it feels only right that the Park Theatre has programmed his work.

Although often accused of misogyny, I think LaBute more often veers close to misandry, as it his men who are more often depicted as sociopathic monsters, whereas his women are more multifaceted.

But that accusation itself would be simplistic, since writing about extreme personalities is illuminating, not only since such personalities exist and have an outsized impact on our lives (eg Trump, Putin, Johnson), but also because behaviour is a spectrum, and depicting the extremes helps us define the middle.

This play, which I've seen before, is an exception to the general rule of LaBute, in that the most extreme behaviour is probably committed by a woman.

This is a fantastic and revealing iteration of the play, with the possibly sociopathic behaviour of Amber Anderson's Eve complex enough to reveal a hell of a lot about power imbalances in relationships, what compromises such relationships exact, what compromises are bad, what compromises are good, as well as the thorny and fascinating issue of the nature of art itself.

Anderson's Eve's gum-chewing casual but knowing way of insinuating herself into Newton's Adam's life, and exercising power over him with a deft, deliberate almost invisible touch is both scary and amusing to behold.

The way Newton morphs his pliable Adam's gawky geeky charm into something more deceptive and sinister, while simultaneously becoming more Dorian Gray surface dazzling, under Eve's influence, is brilliantly, amusingly and emotionally realised by the actor.

The end is such a challenging cocktail of cheek and revelation. It's terrific, and the two leading actors inject just enough charm, intrigue and intent to distract us from the fact that LaBute sometimes trades in shallow characterisations.

4 and a half stars of LaBute at it's very best!