Silver Spring 'Shape' Falls A Little Shy Of Complete

Nicholes Bocek, Jenny Crooks, Evan Shyer and Kathryn Kelly play two couples dealing with some uncomfortable moments in "The Shape of Things." (By Neil Edgell Jr.)

Playwright Neil LaBute likes to challenge his audiences. His plays are acerbic and are often filled with nasty people, and he likes to burrow into the crueler urges of the human heart. They are also extremely entertaining.

"The Shape of Things" is LaBute at his best: a chilling study of art, gender roles and our obsession with appearance. Adventuresome Silver Spring Stage has taken on the challenge of presenting "The Shape of Things," and while there are some rewarding moments in the production, the shape that emerges is slightly flat.

It's disappointing that director Michael Sandner's approach is so laid-back here. With much razor-sharp dialogue to play with, and a provocative plot and dark themes to wallow in, the play cries out for vivid characterizations that might even approach, but never quite go over, the top. There's none of that here. The four cast members seem to have the ability to play this story out to the fullest, so we can always hope they will be allowed to loosen up during the run. Sandner has also apparently decided that we don't need to actually see the physical transformation required by one of the four characters in the story, an issue central to the play's plot and themes. That's a mistake that undercuts the play's impact.

First staged in London in 2001, and later an off-Broadway hit, "The Shape of Things" takes us to a traditional, small-town college where Evelyn (Jenny Crooks), a sophisticated, blunt-speaking and artistically aggressive graduate student, easily wins the affections of Adam (Nicholas Bocek), a socially clumsy and unappealing undergraduate English major. Evelyn is soon manipulating Adam, getting him to adopt a more flattering hairstyle and trade in his nerdy glasses for contact lenses. He begins to dress more stylishly, lose weight and take even more drastic measures. As far as outward appearances go, he becomes an improved version of himself. Plus, he's in an exciting relationship for the first time.

Eventually, a moral line is approached and crossed, leading to a breathtaking penultimate scene that both draws in and repels the audience. (Discussion of that plot point would be a spoiler for those unfamiliar with the play.) But LaBute refuses to clearly identify exactly where the moral line is, leading to twisting considerations of subjectivity and objectivity in both art and life. It is up to the audience to decide if he has created one of the great villains in theater, or if this character has done something worthwhile. Granted, most people probably come down on the side of villainy, and the final image as the lights fade out leads one to believe that the "art" created here has been ephemeral, but LaBute does provide enough wiggle room to stimulate plenty of post-show discussion.

Bocek is believable as the nerd, with a slight stammer and awkward, tentative body language, but doesn't make a significant transformation when Adam achieves self-confidence and more social ease under Evelyn's guiding hand. Bocek continues with a calm demeanor even as his Adam should be ratcheting up emotions to an almost unbearable intensity. The weight issue is not physically realized in this production, even though it is a major component of Adam's experience. Crooks fares somewhat better as Evelyn but never fully achieves the absolutely reptilian demeanor necessary to presenting her coldly analytical view of both art and people. Onstage for much of the time during the intense and intermission-less two-hour drama, Bocek and Crooks seem low on energy by the climactic scenes.

Kathryn Kelly and Evan Shyer both turn in capable performances as Adam's friends, who each have a reason not to like Evelyn, and Kelly is particularly striking as she creates a character who seems genuinely sweet but possesses her own darker impulses.

"The Shape of Things" continues through Feb. 5 at Silver Spring Stage, 10145 Colesville Rd., in the Woodmoor Shopping Center. Showtime Fridays and Saturdays is 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. For reservations, call 301-593-6036. For information and reservations, visithttp://www.ssstage.org.