Playwright Neil LaBute loves to strike the raw nerve. His work is in the audience’s faces. Just like his
character Phillip in "The Shape of Things" he doesn’t back off, moving relentlessly from humor
to discomfort, revealing the misshapen psyches of his characters.
Staged in the small space available to Lionface Productions this makes for an intense experience, no dark
theater nor plush seats to sink into.
Lionface is staging "The Shape of Things," a contemporary take on the Pygmalion story tonight,
Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in the former church at 123 Court St., Bowling Green. Tickets are $5.
The dark comedy, directed by Christina Hoekstra, starts with what appears a mild act of rebellion as art
student Evelyn (Brigid Randolph) steps over the line at the museum, intruding into the space of a
sculpture. When confronted by the mousy museum guard Adam (Joshua Powell) she’s up front about her
intentions. The sculpture of the male nude had its privates covered with foliage after a public outcry
in the small college town. She’s intent on restoring with spray paint the figure’s manhood.
Adam doesn’t have it in him to stop her. Instead is taken by her beauty and boldness, and inspired to
actually transgress museum rules and ask her out on a date.
That begins a romance that’s beyond Adam’ wildest hopes – he admits while in bed with Evelyn that he’s
inexperienced in sex and romance. Evelyn seems passionate to correct that situation.
Their relationship plays off the other couple in the play, Adam’s blowhard best pal Phillip (Michael
Portteus) and his timid fiancee Jenny (Kat Moran).
Phillip and Evelyn argue from the start – the pretext being the graffiti on the sculpture, which he’s
unaware she perpetrated.
They bludgeon each other. This is not rapier wit, instead they hack at each other with broad strokes.
Phillip is highly suspicious as his friend undergoes a transformation. Losing weight, changing his hair,
buying new clothes.

And Adam in his presence seems sheepish about it, sheepish about what that reveals about his relationship
with Evelyn.
Jenny, however, is quite admiring of the improved version of the guy she could have had before she met
the overbearing Phillip. As the plot unwinds, the couples head in opposite directions.
As is the case with Lionface shows, little distracts from the dynamic of the script where all the
questions are loaded and the answers misfire. Hoekstra shows a sure hand in letting the play unfold in a
confined space.
Those quarters seemed cramped when Portteus’ Phillip holds forth, as interrogates Adam. Powell, whose
confidence blossoms in Evelyn’s presence, wavers in the face of his friend’s prying, lies
unconvincingly.
Randolph in contrast is unwavering in her certainty about art and life and how they intersect. When she
says she’d like to put a blade through Phillip’s throat, it’s not clear if that’s really only a figure
of speech. She remains, it seems, unbowed in the end.
Moran’s Jenny is her opposite. She hardly seems to have a person, instead hanging on Phillip, or whoever
she’s with. This is an interesting role for Moran, who in the past has thrived portraying the devil and
the scheming Lady Macbeth or cross-dressing to play some daring gallant. She uses that strength to keep
Jenny from withering away and bringing out Adam’s shifting character.
While "The Shape of Things" poses intriguing questions, the dynamic among the characters is
what makes spending an evening with these folks such a riveting experience.