The Shape of Things

Do you remember Karen Owen’s thesis, the senior at Duke last year who chronicled her sexcapades for her final paper (it was all over the news how she rated her short-term beaus in terms of their sexual abilities, etc.)?  I think I found the book that was her inspiration… well, not really a book, this was a Tisch student, so guess what.. a play!  Neil Labute’s The Shape of Things has four characters, Evelyn (aka Karen Owens), Adam (the new boyfriend), Jenny (Adam’s first infatuation), and Phillip (Adam’s buddy).  Evelyn finds Adam while visiting a museum that he works at and tries to push him to respond to her decision to graffiti a male nude statue in the museum.  He doesn’t take the bait, BUT he does end up falling for her.  She gets him to change many of his habits (biting his fingernails), his appearance (losing weight, getting a nose job, etc.), the way he dresses (new glasses, new outfits), and who he hangs out with as friends.  Through this process Adam, a huge introvert, loses weight, starts to become a “looker,” and starts to have some confidence in himself.  She convinces him to have sex on video and drop both Jenny and Phillip as friends.  This all culminates at the end of the semester when Evelyn presents her “senior thesis art project” to all, including Adam, Jenny, and Phillip in the audience.  It all turns out to be a hoax.  Evelyn used Adam to be her “art project,” showing how weak and malleable people really are when convinced under the “guise” of love.  Wow.  I can only imagine how this play would be staged.  I can see how a Karen Owens could have read this and said, “hey, this could work on sexcapades as well.”  Amazing how human nature shows how we all could become manipulated by others.  Happens every day, huh?  Actually a pretty good read – psychological thriller of sorts.  Go see it on stage if it comes your way.  Hope they do leave it to your imagination for that scene on video…