In good shape in 'The Shape of Things'

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- When Evelyn steps across a museum security line to approach a sculpture of God with a can of spray paint in her hand as the curtain goes up on "The Shape of Things," the theater season's scariest new play, you know she is up to no good.

Adam, a university student moonlighting as a museum guard, tries to stop her by asking her to step back. She refuses and he persists in trying to persuade her with smooth talk, flattery, and a philosophic discussion about why a fig leaf has been applied to the Creator's creative part.

He winds up asking her for a date, thereby sealing his fate. If only he had called for help and had Evelyn arrested! But then the audience wouldn't have such a good time watching this cruel young woman wreck Adam's life without an iota of remorse. Maybe a smidgeon (as she hints at their very last moment on stage), but certainly not an iota.

"The Shape of Things" by American playwright Neil LaBute, now playing at the Promenade Theater, is the first notable British import of the Off-Broadway season with the same young cast of four that made it a hit at London's trendy Almeida Theater last year. It is contrived, dark, but enjoyable because of the fine performances by the cast of four.

Evelyn is played by Rachel Weisz, an award-winning English actress who is making her New York debut. Adam is played by Paul Rudd, who starred in the Showtime TV film version of LaBute's play "Bash," and his friends Philip and Jenny by Gretchen Mol and Frederick Weller, all American actors who have been active in the English theater.

Weisz has an unusual face with eyes that do not always seem to coordinate and a body that seems to seek out awkward positions. She is able to make Evelyn just innocent enough to assuage suspicion that she is a calculating vampire of a woman with experience way beyond her ingénue appearance.

Evelyn is an art student at the same small-town college attended by Adam, a sloppy, huggable Teddy Bear type of young man who hasn't had much luck with women. They apparently fall in love, but Evelyn is not satisfied with Adam as he is and begins a major makeover that includes getting a nose job and replacing his lived-in casual wardrobe with Tommy Hilfiger apparel. Having her initials tattooed on his groin is his own idea.

Philip and Jenny, a hip couple who are engaged and planning to get married underwater just for the fun of it, note that Evelyn has taken on Adam as a "project" but think little of it until she involves them in nasty ways. That the foursome are sexually linked adds to the ambivalence of their response to her schemes.

The true nature of Evelyn's project, which is never suspected by Adam until it is too late, is not disclosed until the final scene of the play. It will not be revealed here, except to note that it has to do with an academic assignment involving the nature of being a creative artist and the capacity of some people to objectify other human beings.

This intermissionless play is divided into scenes by pauses during which music by Smashing Pumpkins is played at eardrum-smashing levels so that, according to LaBute, the audience will not be able to exchange opinions on what is going on onstage. Some people will find it a painful experience, and it is an unnecessary one that could be eliminated without weakening the play's impact.

Weisz, best known as the love interest in "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" films, gives a studied but effective performance that makes the audience wary of Evelyn's eccentric charms but not completely distrustful of her intentions. Rudd as Adam is a perfect foil to Evelyn, winsome in his trusting naiveté and totally believable as the boy next door.

Mol, a veteran film and television actress, makes Jenny a more complex person, torn between simplicity in her relationships and a growing sense that betrayal is very much a part of the human possibility. Weller takes his macho role in a straightforward way, leaving the more subtle approach to acting to the others in the cast.

Giles Cadle's simple set with movable parts to suggest scenic changes works perfectly with the expert help of lighting designer James Vermeulen. Lynette Meyer's costumes reflect current campus dishabille.

LaBute has directed his own play with expected finesse. The latest project of this 38-year-old writer, who made a name for himself with his films "In the Company of Men" and "Nurse Betty," is another film, "Possession," adapted from the S.A. Byatt novel and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhard. It will be released next year.