THE SHAPE OF THINGS
Theatre Columbus State’s production of The Shape of Things has shaped up to be an excellent venture for the Columbus State Community College theatre group. The play, written by Neil LaBute is the story of a young nerdish man named Adam who encounters an art student named Evelyn at an art museum where he is working as a guard. This is the beginning of their courtship and the initial step in Adam’s transformation throughout the play. We experience Adam and Evelyn’s new relationship developing and how this affects Adam’s relationship with his friends, Jenny and Phillip. With the artist paintings we see on a screen on the back of the stage between scenes, this helps to create a sense of the journey the characters are on and in essence, The Shape of Things.
Columbus State Community College’s Nestor Hall is where Theatre Columbus State’s Auditorium is located for this production. The modern thrust stage provides an intimacy for the audience to feel like a member of the production. There are portions of the play where the performers enter and exit the stage from the auditorium or walk directly into the audience to sit with the crowd. The lighting was extremely effective especially with many of the Fresnel style spotlights highlighting art pieces sitting on columns from the art museum as well as many of the significant objects in the play. At the end of a scene, the lighting would slowly fade to black then dim slowly back into focus on the performers. An interesting technique that helped with the movement, mood, and style of the play had the museum curators adjust the performers into position at the beginning of each scene then come to dismiss them at the end of a scene. The set design is presented accurately with very minimal furnishings. A screen in the background of the stage sets up each scene with titles for each locale. The clothes in the production are very appropriate for what young contemporary college students would be wearing. They were effective in detailing that this is a modern day production in the 21st century.
All of the performances by the four main characters were wonderful. Especially noteworthy is Stephen Shaw, who plays the awkward Adam to perfection. Shaw captures the essence of Adam’s self loathing to his new found self confidence. Shaw adds a freshness to the otherwise stereotypical character of Adam. Jenna Lee Shively shines as art student Evelyn. Shively brings an inner strength to her character that is present when she is on stage. Director Frank Barnhart has presented an excellent interpretation of LaBute’s fascinating play. Barnhart has effectively created his own arrangement of Set and Light Design with his production. The artist paintings and the titles describing each of the scene settings shown on the screen on the back of the stage were created by Barnhart himself. Theatre Columbus State has created their own outstanding piece of artwork with their version of The Shape of Things.
Columbus State Community College’s Nestor Hall is where Theatre Columbus State’s Auditorium is located for this production. The modern thrust stage provides an intimacy for the audience to feel like a member of the production. There are portions of the play where the performers enter and exit the stage from the auditorium or walk directly into the audience to sit with the crowd. The lighting was extremely effective especially with many of the Fresnel style spotlights highlighting art pieces sitting on columns from the art museum as well as many of the significant objects in the play. At the end of a scene, the lighting would slowly fade to black then dim slowly back into focus on the performers. An interesting technique that helped with the movement, mood, and style of the play had the museum curators adjust the performers into position at the beginning of each scene then come to dismiss them at the end of a scene. The set design is presented accurately with very minimal furnishings. A screen in the background of the stage sets up each scene with titles for each locale. The clothes in the production are very appropriate for what young contemporary college students would be wearing. They were effective in detailing that this is a modern day production in the 21st century.
All of the performances by the four main characters were wonderful. Especially noteworthy is Stephen Shaw, who plays the awkward Adam to perfection. Shaw captures the essence of Adam’s self loathing to his new found self confidence. Shaw adds a freshness to the otherwise stereotypical character of Adam. Jenna Lee Shively shines as art student Evelyn. Shively brings an inner strength to her character that is present when she is on stage. Director Frank Barnhart has presented an excellent interpretation of LaBute’s fascinating play. Barnhart has effectively created his own arrangement of Set and Light Design with his production. The artist paintings and the titles describing each of the scene settings shown on the screen on the back of the stage were created by Barnhart himself. Theatre Columbus State has created their own outstanding piece of artwork with their version of The Shape of Things.
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