Art Is Bullshit: Austinist Reviews "The Shape of Things"

The first highlight is Ben Wolfe. This man can act. He’s vulnerable, likable, believable, spontaneous -- fantastic. In fact, the show is almost worth seeing just because he does such a damn good job. The cast is rounded out with solid performances from Melissa Livingston and Chris Sykes. They got the job done, and we commend them for it. (Kelsey Kling also starred in this production, but we’ll save our description of her underwhelming performance until we get to that vicious part of the post we mentioned earlier.)

And, while we obviously weren’t impressed with the set design, we thought the sound design had very successful moments. The scene-setting soundscapes were either well-designed or well-selected, and we loved the choice to end the show cinema-style, with a pop song (ala Bright Eyes, or someone that sounds a lot like Bright Eyes), underscoring the emotional final moments. (Somehow a Kenny G song also snuck its way in, which was either a joke we didn’t get, or just plain awful -- but we’re really trying to be positive, hence another sly, passing mention in parentheses)

Moreover, we were re-introduced to Neil LaBute in a way that made us cease to hate his work, which has got to count for something. Up until now we’ve found LaBute’s plays to be juvenile and simplistic -- part of that whole “fuck you, I’m white, dark, male and angry” theatre movement that seemed to vomit out of the mid-90s while Damien Hirst and company were slicing up bovine. This play is full of gorgeous dialogue and provocative, well-observed characters. The story toys with the audience as the sinister plot unfolds into a twist ending that rocked our sweet asses.

We’d like to leave it at that, but for all the potential this play had for an incredibly compelling night at the theatre, it fell significantly short of its expectations. The production chose to plod along, letting each scene flop around like a fish out of water -- aimlessly grasping at emotional straws and meandering sans direction toward the next major plot point. For a play that’s largely about the subtext -- as in, what’s not being said, what’s not necessarily a major step in the story -- a production should unearth the dramatic potential and fullness of character. Otherwise, as was the case here, we just won't give a shit when said plot points finally fall into place.

Part of the problem was Kelsey Kling. We’ve seen her in other shows and enjoyed her work, but in this role she simply missed the boat. While there were occasionally some cute romantic moments between her and Wolfe, the majority of her performance was superficial and bland. Granted, she had an incredibly demanding role (the reasons for which we won’t get into for fear of ruining anything for you), but nevertheless, it seemed, at least to us, that Kelsey was merely "punching in" her performance – rarely committing to any choice that might make her appear vulnerable (and thus, compelling to watch).

But beyond this, Shannon Weaver (c-artistic director for a chick & a dude) didn't breathe any life into the piece. While it's the actors' jobs to create believable characters, it's the director's job to set the bar for the performances -- working with them to dig deeper and commit more fully to the actors' choices. Unfortunately, Weaver set the bar so low that seemingly nothing important was at stake for the characters. Without anything at stake, the play had no edge, and without any edge, the show simply couldn’t keep us interested long enough to notice or care when the plot thickened and play spiraled toward (what could have been) its exciting climax.

Alas.

Photo courtesy of sheerazfx at Stock Exchange