the facts; basics

Title- The Shape of Things
Author- Neil LaBute
Language- English
Year of Publication- 2001
Genre- Drama/ 144 pages

Agency- Samuel French
Royalty Fees- Fee code M
Cast Breakdown-
M-Adam
M -Phillip
F -Evelyn
F -Jenny
Time and Setting- A liberal arts college in a conservative midwestern town

Brief Bio Of Author- LaBute was originally a playwright. He attended Brigham Young University and took theater as his major. Many say that Pulitzer-Prize winner David Mamet was a strong influence on him. He chose to attack subjects that many don't really want to talk about and showed the way that people really talk amongst themselves. His piece entitled "Filthy Talk for Troubled Times" featured two guys just sitting around and making small talk and ridiculing homosexuals and their ways, in a manner not unlike the conversations in his In the Company of Men (1997). The play was not, unsurprisingly, a hit with the critics.After LaBute graduated from the University of Kansas and New York University, he got a scholarship to London's Royal Court Theatre in the US in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. Then he got into cinema. He made his films like his plays: just characters talking and revealing how evil, scared, ignorant, wounded, delusional, disillusioned and cynical they are. 'http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001438/bio'

Brief Plot Summary- How far would you go for love? For art? What concessions would you make? What price would you be willing to pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil LaBute in, The Shape of Things. A modern day retelling 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 the kind of dangerous, seductive territory that LaBute does best, as Adam, under Evelyn's steady influence, goes to unimaginable 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.
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