The Shape of Things
by Neil LaBute
(october 2025, yale university production)
“It’s my senior year and I’m facing graduation. More specifically, I am facing down the beginning of a transition from full-time student to full-time artist. This may seem like an odd place to start a note for this play about the relationship between an MFA student and her English major boyfriend, but one thing unites them, and perhaps that’s what attracted me to The Shape of Things. Initially, when Isa brought this play to me, I was drawn to its rhythms and big questions, to LaBute’s willingness to play with the audience’s sympathies and to charge headlong into debates about art, sex, and power. But as I listened to it more, I realized the deeper connective tissue between me right now and the play. Really, we share a central concern: what is the role of an artist in society? What are our responsibilities, morally, ethically, politically?
In the process of putting together this play, I have been able to verbalize my answers. To me, the deep, continuously refreshing satisfaction I get from making art comes from creating community. Whether it is the community of a rehearsal room, a production meeting, or an audience coming together to watch a performance, the creating and upholding of those environments feels like my primary responsibility as an artist. This play has afforded me a chance to articulate these responsibilities, while also enacting them in the company of a brilliant group of artists who have committed so much of their time, craft, and attention to this project. Those artists that came together to make this production inspire me deeply because of the passion and love they have dedicated to this community. I am so lucky to have them. Now, it’s your turn to join us. Buckle up — it’s gonna be a wild ride. ”
- From The Shape of Things director’s note
Cast
Evelyn / Isabella Walther-Meade
Adam / Abram Knott
Jenny / Leila Hyder
Phillip / Jaden Nicita
Adam / Abram Knott
Jenny / Leila Hyder
Phillip / Jaden Nicita
Director / Emiliano Cáceres Manzano
Producer / Isabella Walther-Meade
Producer / Isabella Panico
Stage Manager / Maya Evans
Set Designer / Alexa Druyanoff
Lighting Designer / Owen Pinhasi
Costume Designer / Emily Currie
Props Designer / Mia Cortés Castro
Sound Designer / Dorothy Ha
Graphic Designer / Mateo Felix
Photography / Natalie Chinganga