A Dramatic Shifting in ‘Shape’

The shape of Neil LaBute’s “The Shape of Things” changes dramatically about a half-hour before the play ends.

Until then, it has been a story of an increasingly turbulent romance between two students at a small-town college. Evelyn’s a grad student in art; Adam’s a junior who’s majoring in English.

Twists transpire, aided by another, engaged couple. The second young man, Philip, used to room with Adam.

As the story moves along, in Richard Stein’s alert staging at Laguna Playhouse, the absence of an intermission is noticeable. A couple of points in the narrative seem like logical moments for the action to take a brief break.

But LaBute apparently doesn’t want to run the risk that theatergoers might leave before they experience the transformation of the play near the end. Otherwise they would miss his main point, which isn’t at all about contemporary college romances. It’s about the purposes of art and media and the ethics of those who create them.

The play acquires a dimension that goes far beyond its initial setting. LaBute’s observations extend to the seemingly disparate worlds of unscripted television programs for the masses and avant-garde performance art for the few.

Anyone who wants to experience the full impact of the play’s surprises should probably stop reading now. We won’t explicitly give away the crucial turn of events, but more details might make it easier to figure out.

Evelyn and Adam meet at an art gallery, where Adam works as a guard. His shift is almost over; he’ll leave soon for his other job at a video store. But then he notices that Evelyn has stepped beyond the rope that is supposed to deter visitors from approaching a particular sculpture. Worse, she holds a can of spray paint.

We quickly learn that Evelyn is a brash risk-taker and that Adam is hesitant to take control of a situation. This is the pattern that dominates their budding relationship. Evelyn insults Adam’s friends and makes pointed suggestions about how he might improve his health and his looks. Intrigued by her interest in him, Adam willingly takes the hints and follows her advice.

No, this isn’t another LaBute script--like those for his movies “In the Company of Men” and “Your Friends and Neighbors” and program of one-acts “Bash”--in which the man is the bad guy. Although traces of LaBute’s previous male manipulators show up in the secondary character of Philip, Adam himself is disarmingly guileless and malleable.

Not that Michael Eric Strickland’s Adam is stupid. He puts a quick spin on his more clever retorts. He throws literary allusions at Evelyn that she doesn’t catch; she responds with references to TV characters that he doesn’t get. Strickland evinces a certain charm.

But Adam is also too willing to say that’s something’s “amazing.” In retrospect, it’s amazing that he didn’t ask a few more questions of Evelyn that might have led him to the truth about their relationship.

Stacy Solodkin softens Evelyn’s ruthlessness with a beguiling smile and even an occasional girlish giggle. Jay Boyer and Robyn Cohen provide sharp support.

Dwight Richard Odle’s primary set consists of a large mobile that dangles garishly over the stage, which can be seen as representing the position into which Adam is thrust. Other set pieces come and go, with the transitions accompanied by blasts of rock and punk.

“The Shape of Things” may not be wholly plausible on a realistic level, but it’s a captivating parable about contemporary culture.

*

“The Shape of Things,” Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends with the matinee on June 30. $38-$45. (949) 497-2787. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Stacy Solodkin...Evelyn

Michael Eric Strickland...Adam

Robyn Cohen...Jenny

Jay Boyer...Philip

By Neil LaBute. Directed by Richard Stein. Sets and costumes by Dwight Richard Odle. Lighting by Tom Ruzika. Sound by David Edwards. Production stage manager Nancy Staiger.