History Theatre / TheShapeOfThings

''The Shape of Things'' is a 2001 play by Neil [=LaBute=]. It was [[TheFilmOfThePlay adapted into a film]] in 2003, directed by [=LaBute=] and featuring the original London stage cast, which included Creator/PaulRudd, Creator/RachelWeisz, Creator/GretchenMol, and Creator/FredWeller.

--> ''Don't fool yourself and think all this is art. Okay? It's a sick fuckin' joke, but it's not art. [...] And if I'm wrong about that? I mean, if I've completely missed the point here, and somehow puking up all your own shitty little neuroses is actually art, then you ought to at least realize there's a price to it all.

%%* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Evelyn]]

%%* DownerEnding

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: [[spoiler: Averted Evelyn knows what she's doing is very illegal, which is why she makes it a point to not only cultivate blackmail against Adam but make it clear she will use it.]]

* NeverMyFault: [[Evelyn is unrepentant over her actions and is actually ''confused'' by Adam's anger at her. In her mind, Adam is in a better place then when he started. Not that she doesn't objectively know what she did is wrong as she takes care to protect herself with blackmail if Adam goes to the police.]]

* AllForNothing: [[Evelyn actually makes Adam worse. As listed below he becomes more aggressive, deceitful and selfish over the course of the film. While he is conventionally more attractive, he's become a worse person. Furthermore, as a result of Evelyn he going to have a VERY hard time trusting others again.]]

* MeetCute: Adam and Evelyn

''The Shape of Things'' is a 2001 play by Neil[=LaBute=]. It was [[TheFilmOfThePlay adapted into a film]] in 2003, directed by [=LaBute=] and featuring the original London stage cast, which included Creator/PaulRudd, Creator/RachelWeisz, Creator/GretchenMol, and Creator/FredWeller.

''The Shape of Things'' is a 2001 play by Creator/NeilLaBute. It was [[TheFilmOfThePlay adapted into a film]] in 2003, directed by [=LaBute=] and featuring the original London stage cast, which included Creator/PaulRudd, Creator/RachelWeisz, Creator/GretchenMol, and Creator/FredWeller.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_shape_of_things_poster.jpg]]
''The Shape of Things'' is a play by Creator/NeilLaBute. It was adapted into a film in 2003 with the original cast, which included Creator/PaulRudd and Creator/RachelWeisz.

When Adam Sorenson, an English literature major at Mercy College, meets Evelyn Ann Thompson, an attractive graduate art student at the local museum where he works, his life takes an unexpected turn. Soon after they begin dating, Evelyn begins to prod Adam to make dramatic lifestyle changes for the sake of his physical appearance. Immediately, Evelyn's abrasive personality puts her at odds with Adam's former roommate and the roommate's fiancée, but schlubby and unlucky in love up to this point and flattered by the attention, Adam decides to do whatever it takes to keep Evelyn in his life.

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Adam and Jenny resolve their unrequited feelings by "burying it on the beach." When Evelyn finds out, she decides to kiss Phillip to get back at both of them.]]

* ArtisticLicenseEducation: Critics have noted that Evelyn would need the approval of her professor to [[spoiler:do her art project, and since it involves blatantly manipulating and publicly humiliating another person]], no professor would approve it, considering that do so would surely mean they would lose their tenure and be fired if they did.

* ArtisticLicenseEducation: Critics have noted that Evelyn would need the approval of her professor to do this art project, and since [[spoiler:it involves blatantly manipulating and publicly humiliating another person]], no professor would approve it and any dumb enough to do so would surely lose their tenure and be fired if they did.

* ArtisticLicenseEducation: Critics have noted that Evelyn would need the approval of her professor to do this art project, and since [[spoiler:it involves blatantly manipulating and publicly humiliating another person]], no professor would approve it and any dumb enough to do so would surely loose their tenure and fired if they did.

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* [[spoiler: BitchInSheepsClothing: Evelyn]]
* [[spoiler: BecomingTheMask:]] Either an {{Inversion}} or a {{Subversion}} depending on how [[spoiler: Evelyn's betrayal of Adam is played and what you think the one true thing she said to Adam might've been.]]

* [[spoiler: DownerEnding]]
* FriendVersusLover

* [[spoiler: WasItAllALie:]] Adam asks Evelyn this almost verbatim. [[spoiler: In a type 1 response, everything she told him from her birthdate to her history of self-harm to her ethnicity, turns out to be a lie. The only honest thing she ever said to him was a mysterious whispered phrase the audience never hears.]]

** [[spoiler: SympatheticAdulterer]]

''The Shape of Things'' is a play by Neil Labute. It was adapted into a film in 2003 with the original cast, which included Creator/PaulRudd and Creator/RachelWeisz.