Written by Patrick Chavis

Depending on the context of what you are talking about, there are almost always positives and negatives you can attribute to something. Love in stories and plays is often looked upon as something positive. As nearly everything has positives and negatives, there are also negative aspects to love, or maybe you wouldn’t call that love at all. In The Shape of Things, playing now at the No Square Theatre in Laguna Beach, the play explores the dangers of losing yourself in love.

Story:

The Shape of Things is a Neil LaBute play about Adam (Dane Hobrecht), a shy undergraduate literature major living in a small town. He meets Evelyn (Abigail Cox), a rebellious arts major, and their relationship sparks a melodramatic trail of chaos that affects everyone in its path. Especially Adam, who has fallen head over heels for Evelyn.

It’s a good play, but not a great one, with a convincing message about relationships and the dangers of getting into relationships when you don’t have a strong sense of who you are. As I mentioned, the play’s message is good; there’s truth there. A lot of what goes on in this play is sophomoric melodrama, and that’s not for everyone. That being said, that fits right in with college, and growing up, we do a lot of immature things, and sometimes we keep doing them.

Direction:

Director Ella Wyatt does a good job pulling some quality performances out of these young actors. You could tell from the delivery and comfort of the actors on the stage that they knew who they were and what they were doing throughout the show. That is what helped make this a compelling performance. But as far as a style or creatively giving us something that makes this telling unique and sing, that extra polish you put on the car after you’ve washed it wasn’t there. The show could have also benefited from more thoughtful lighting, and the No Square Theatre has an array of lights in the theatre.

Set Design:

The Scenic Design in this play from Ella Wyatt is minimal, and that’s a good thing. Because of that, the focus was more on the actors, which led to a bare set and a boring atmosphere in much of the production. Once again, it is something that could be handled with lighting.

Acting:

The lead, Dane Hobrecht (Adam), fumbles and mumbles his way into our hearts. Hobrecht’s nonverbal acting in this show was quite good, and his character’s personality came through.

Abigail Cox plays Evelyn with the confidence the character requires. She also does a good job of incorporating a little of herself into the role while keeping her composure.

Griffin Glenn (Phillip) and Kristin Cortines (Jenny) provide solid support for the leads in the show.

Glenn creates powerful tension in one of the more intriguing moments of the play.

Review

8 Overall

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Story8.2

Acting8

Set & Design7.3

Costumes8

Entertainment8.3

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Good Show! OCR Recommended! October 6 – 15,2023.