Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Katherine Siegel updates LaBute's 2001 script for the Snapchat age in her staging for Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, which prominently features projections (designed by Patrick Iven) of the characters' social media profiles. This manages to connect the play's point about the heartlessness of art for art's sake with the way we habitually and sometimes recklessly exhibit ourselves online for the appraisal of others. Unfortunately, the effect is marred by one-note acting; Andy Blaustein's Adam is unvaryingly dopey, while the lack of vulnerability in Michelle Annette's Evelyn gives away the game from the start."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...All this is to say that Eclectic Full Contact Theater’s production of The Shape of Things falls short not because of its actors or design team or even its director, but because of the material they’ve chosen. Why, if you’re a contemporary theater company just getting your start, would you select such a bland, un-daring show?"
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...In the case of “The Shape of Things”, a comedy that deals with art, love ,reality and how everything we see is not exactly how we see it. I know that sounds mysterious, and there is a reason it does. This play has some true surprises within its two hours of action."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...This caustic, consequential drama about the nature of art and love offers moments of biting humor amidst LaBute’s poetic dialogue. But, as his tension-filled Pygmalion story gradually unfolds, it reveals surprise after surprise, climaxing with the artist’s creation crumbling down around her. While the cast is very good, the direction could be tightened but, as Hamlet once said, the play is the thing. And this, one of the playwright’s finest early works, can stand alongside any of this company’s best productions."
Third Coast Review - Somewhat Recommended
"...Unfortunately, the play's content is overshadowed by the stilted acting. Blaustein, who carries the weight of the show, turns Adam into a caricature. His hunched posture, squeaky voice, and exaggerated gestures are sometimes painful to watch. The Shape of Things hinges on the chemistry between characters, and it's hard for relationships to sizzle when you can't take the lead male seriously. Annette's Evelyn suffers from some of the same overacting, but really shines in the last few scenes. In a soliloquy directed at the audience, you can really feel Evelyn's fire and unshakeable belief in her artistic vision. It's unfortunate that Leeper has the least time on stage, as he portrays the most believable character, imbuing his Phil with both humanity and bubbling rage."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...LaBute's "The Shape of Things" is cringe-inducing not so much because it lays out the cruelty that humans are capable of but because it does so with stock characters and little nuance. Despite this, the cast does a commendable job of developing extremely unlikable characters. This is perhaps easiest for Annette, whose Evelyn is the most arrogant grad student with the most distasteful thesis topic. However, she craftily keeps up her sleeve the secret power of the plot-twist until she seamlessly unloads it at the end of the show. Blaustein manages the trickiest role in the cast, producing the changes in Adam's character with impressive subtlety."
