By Catherine Keenan
17 January 2003
Catherine Keenan examines a new drama by Neil LaBute, a writer fascinated with power struggles between men and women.
If you saw Neil Labute’s diverse 1997 film, In the Company of Men, and decided the director was unnecessarily harsh on males, you might have to revise your thoughts after seeing The Shape of Things, which has its Australian premiere at the Sydney Theatre Company next week.
It is in some ways a companion piece to the film, exploring similar issues of personal politics and power relationships. But whereas In The Company of Men was about a male sociopath and his acquiescent offsider taking their revenge on women by courting then unceremoniously dumping a secretary who was kind, honest, innocent – and deaf- this time it’s a female who does the manipulating. And she is every bit as cruel and Machiavellian as the men.
“The empowered woman in this play is something that fascinates LaBute,” says Jeremy Sims, who will be directing. “What do you do if you give women the right to be powerful and single-minded, but you don’t give them a role or a useful place to use it?”
The Shape of Things is a very tight, focused piece which follows four college students in a small American town. Evelyn (Leeanna Walsman) is the scheming art student who meets Adam (Brendan Cowell) in a museum as she is about to vandalise a statue by drawing a penis on it. They start talking about art- the idea of what is, and what is not, art becomes a central theme – and begin a relationship.
Soon, geeky Adam has transformed before the surprised eyes of his best friends Philip (Nick Flynt) and Jenny (Alyssa McCelland). He sheds weight, changes his hair, clothes, and glasses. But is this right? Is he going too far for love? These questions take on a very different meaning at the end of the play when there is a surprising – and unfathomably cruel – twist.
“LaBute loves betrayal so much,” says Cowell, who will effect his own transformation with aid of a fat suit and some inventive hairstyling. “He loves the things humans do to each other.”
This can make his work repellent, and Cowell admits that he initially hated In The Company of Men, and only “got it” on a second viewing. But now he is a big fan of LaBute’s work: as a playwright himself (Cowell wrote ATM and Bed, and won a share of the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award in 2001), he admires the precision of the script, its relentless focus.
Working on such a tightly structured play is quite a change for Sims, 36, who will be making his directorial debut at the STC (he has appeared a number of times as an actor, most recently in last year’s The Virgin Mim).
“I normally do great big sprawling things with my company, with friends and all that sort of stuff, he says, referring to his production of Reg Cribb’s Last Cab to Darwin, starring Barry Otto, which will open in the Opera House in April.
“And if I was going to come here and not have my Pork Chop posse with me, than a play that’s an actor’s play- that’s about rehearsing scenes and working on dialogue and relationships – was perfect.”
Why did he want to direct outside Pork Chop?
“For money,” he says immediately, and laughs. “But also, when I do a Pork Chop show, I’ve got to look after the marketing, I’ve got to look after a whole bunch of things.”
Having the STC “empire” around to take care of administration and publicity allows him to concentrate on directing, a focus that was clearly evidenced when I sat in on rehearsals.
The STC’s artistic director, Robyn Nevin, bought The Shape of Things after seeing it during its sell-out premiere at London’s Almedia Theatre in 2001.
LaBute directed the production, and has recently made it into a film as well, starring the original cast of Paul Rudd and Rachel Weisz. When it is released later this year, it will add to a growing list of movie credits that include Nurse Betty and his recent adaptation of A.S. Byatt’s novel Possession, starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
While Possession has received generally lukewarm reviews, Cowell expects that this play will elicit polarised reactions from audiences. Although it deals with lofty themes or art and the artist’s responsibility, it is fundamentally about the cruel ways we treat each other and the emotional devastation we leave behind.
“It’s going to get a definite reaction, as most of his work does,” Cowell says.