By Neil LaBute

Directed by Stan Denman

You've crossed the line...

A provocative, intelligent, and disturbing play by one of America's leading young authors. Neil LaBute is "the best new playwright to emerge in the past decade!" THE NEW YORKER

This play contains adult themes and is intended for mature audiences.

March 21-24 and 28-31, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
March 25 and April 1, 2007 at 2:00 p.m.
Theatre 11

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Baylor Theatre's provocative "Shape of Things" worth seeing

By Carl Hoover, Waco Tribune-Herald
March 24, 2007

Ten minutes into Baylor Theatre's production of "The Shape of Things" and you can see why director Stan Denman and his staff have worked hard to let theater-goers know this one's for grown-ups: some sexually explicit language that hasn't been uttered - before an audience, at least - on a Baylor stage.

Neil LaBute's four-person play goes from that scene, a confrontation between a grad student art major (Cassie Bann-Kelty) intended to deface a semi-nude statue and a student security guard (Jeff Wisnoski), to more stuff for decidedly mature audiences, stuff that Baylor formally frowns on but quietly acknowledges goes on with college students and older adults, from drinking to sexual activity (implied, onstage) between unmarried singles.

I saw the Friday night performance and thought the production handled the subject matter well. The nude statue is imagined rather than physically (and explicitly) present, the bed scene doesn't go beyond kissing and Wisnoski's shirtless torso is the most skin seen in the play - things like that.

For those who can get past the language (equivalent to an R-rated movie and some won't be able to get past that), "The Shape of Things" serves as a rich example of how provocative art causes us to reflect on human behavior we unconsciously, or deliberately, ignore.

You could sense that in the audience reaction. The first round of vulgarity and profanity caused some rustling and chair shifting, but when one of the characters moves to vicious mocking and personal attacks on another, audience members were all ears - just as LaBute wanted them. As rough and crude as the language sometimes became, characters' behavior, particularly where it manipulated and wounded others, was uglier. That behavior, and how some of us may be guilty of it in degrees, is the real starting point for discussion.

There are two more performances this weekend, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (March 24-25) then the drama's final run Wednesday through March 31 at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. April 1. Theatre 11 is small and seating is limited, so call the box office at 710-1865 for ticket availability.