Provocative Play by Neil LaBute Explores Modern Love and Art at Stamford Theatre Works

Stamford Theatre Works will continue its 20th anniversary season in the barn theatre at 200 Strawberry Hill Avenue, Stamford, with "The Shape of Things" by Neil LaBute, a provocative comedic drama about modern love and art, directed by Douglas Moser, March 12 - March 30.  STW is Stamford's resident professional theatre.

Secret manipulation is the fascinating focus of playwright Neil LaBute's take on what constitutes contemporary art.  Are there limits beyond which an artist's vision dare not go?  And is there a price to pay for going there? 

When hip art student Evelyn meets nerdy museum guard Adam, she devises a unique subject for her graduate thesis raising questions about seduction, morality and love.

Never having had success with women, Adam is flattered when Evelyn shows an interest in him. They soon start a relationship.  Evelyn begins molding Adam's appearance and personality, much to the confusion of his friends, Philip and Jenny.  Adam does his best to please Evelyn and enjoys becoming more desirable, but he is unaware of where all this remodeling will lead as Evelyn gets more possessive and controlling.

Neil LaBute, playwright, screenwriter and film director, is one of America's most talked-about and controversial dramatists. In 1997, LaBute captured national attention with the release of the independent film, "In the Company of Men," based on his 1992 stage play. The film earned the Filmmakers' Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival and was named "Best First Film" by the New York Film Critics Circle. LaBute's other films include "The Shape of Things" (2003) starring Paul Rudd and Rachel Weisz, based on his 2001 play of the same name; "Possession" (2002), an adaptation of A. S. Byatt's Booker Prize-winning novel, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart; "Nurse Betty" (2000), a comic thriller that was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and starred Morgan Freeman and Renée Zellweger; and "Your Friends and Neighbors" (1998), starring Jason Patric and Ben Stiller. LaBute's plays include "The Mercy Seat" (2002), about a married businessman who escapes being killed on 9/11 because he is with his lover.

Director Douglas Moser has helmed many STW productions including "Boy Gets Girl," "Talley's Folly," "A Rosen by Any Other Name," "Social Security," "Syncopation," which was nominated for two Connecticut Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding Production, and "The Dining Room," which won a Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble.

Cast members are:  Pepper Binkley as Evelyn, Ari Butler as Adam, Tess Brown as Jenny and Will Poston as Phillip.

STW's 2007-08 season continues with "An Infinite Ache" by David Schulner, April 23 - May 11, a comedy/drama directed by Steve Karp. Hope and Charles, a pair of lonely twenty-somethings, are about to end a supremely uninteresting first date when the myriad possibilities of their futures together come rushing to meet them. STW will complete its season with a musical, June 11-29.

Stamford Theatre Works, now in its 20th season, has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous awards from the Connecticut Critics Circle for outstanding work. STW annually stages five original productions of contemporary plays chosen with sensitivity to issues of social relevance. In addition, STW's season includes a School for the Performing Arts and the Purple Cow Children's Theatre.

Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; matinees Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.; first Sunday and first Tuesday at 7 p.m. A "Conversation Club" follows the first Sunday matinee when the directors and actors participate in a Q&A with the audience. "Art vs. Life," following the first Tuesday, 7 p.m. show, offers a post-performance panel discussion with the directors.  Tickets $25 to $43.  Stamford Theatre Works, 200 Strawberry Hill Ave. (on the campus of Sacred Heart Academy), Stamford.  www.stamfordtheatreworks.org   Box Office: (203) 359-4414.

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