‘The Shape of Things’ @ Ghostlight Theatre Company
—Carol M. Rice
Ghostlight Theatre Company is concluding their first season with The Shape of Things at the Lewisville Grand black box theater. This is a small, young company that isn’t afraid to do difficult works, as evidenced by their superb execution of Neil LaBute’s 2001 dark comedy. I’ve always questioned the term “dark comedy,” probably because I don’t laugh at the misfortunes of others like most people do, and The Shape of Things is no exception. That doesn’t make this production any less phenomenal.
Evelyn is a beautiful, outspoken art student working on her thesis at a small fictional college, where she meets Adam, a geeky, slightly overweight English major working two jobs. One of these is as security at the art gallery where they meet. He’s not used to women giving him any attention, so when Evelyn shows an interest, he’s eager to please her. He changes his hairstyle, starts working out and eating healthier, gets contact lenses to replace his nerdy glasses, dresses more stylishly – all at her suggestion. (There’s even an ‘enry ‘iggins reference, in case you don’t catch what’s going on.)
But there’s more to their burgeoning relationship than meets the eye, and it ultimately affects Adam’s longtime friendships with Phillip and Jenny, who are engaged to be married. I can’t say much more about the plot without providing spoilers, so suffice it to say that things don’t end as one might expect. As the final twist occurs, though, you’ll see how it all plays out.
So, no more plot…but I CAN talk about the amazing acting!
As Evelyn, Laila Jalil is a force of nature. An unlikeable one practically from the get-go, to be sure, but it’s easy to see why Adam would be so quickly taken in. Jalil’s Evelyn is flirty and confident and appears to have only his best interests at heart, while quickly making herself the center of his whole world. It’s almost impossible to take one’s eyes off of her when she’s onstage, her stage presence is that strong. It’s hard to play a role that everyone is going to love to hate, but Jalil completely succeeds.
Jayden Mathews matches Jalil note for note as Adam, but in a different way. His growth from shy and not-quite-sure-of-himself to mostly confident and happy—and then destroyed—is a lot of fun to watch, and even though he makes a few mistakes along the way, we’re rooting for him to get the love he’s after. Mathews usually plays goofy comedy roles, so it’s a true pleasure to see him play a part that allows his dramatic chops to shine.
As Adam’s former roommate Phillip, Dio Garner does an excellent job as the cocky friend who thinks he knows everything. At first. Garner’s strong baritone voice helps emphasize his lines beautifully, and he ultimately makes Phillip a sympathetic guy—not easy to do.
Jenny is one of the nicer characters in this play full of unlikeable people, and Ashley Tysor does a fine job of navigating the relationships of her friends as they evolve and eventually devolve. Tysor shows true empathy when needed, and she provides a pleasant contrast to some of the drama created by the others.
Patrick Britton directed The Shape of Things, and his love for and understanding of the piece is apparent throughout. He doesn’t let his actors turn into bellowing stereotypes (which could easily happen in this show), and the pacing is excellent from start to finish.
Britton also serves as set designer, and the simple set worked well, although I wished the notes and photos on the walls were larger so we could appreciate them more.
I kept thinking during every scene change that the musical choices were perfect, not realizing that Alex Poole wrote original music for the production. This is some outstanding work, paired with Mira Are’s sound design.
The lighting design by Kevin Koickal was appropriate overall, but there were a few scenes where actors were not lit quite right. I will say, though, that the color choices for each scene were great and added to the mood.
No costume designer was mentioned so I must assume the actors were wearing their own clothes. This worked well most of the time, but I’d have liked to see a more stylish physical transformation for Adam’s wardrobe.
The Shape of Things is only Ghostlight Theatre Company’s fifth show, but if this is the quality they will continue to put onstage, they have a very bright future ahead of them. They have only three performances this weekend, so catch this one while it’s hot.
WHEN: November 7-8, 2025 (7 p.m. Friday, 4:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday)
WHERE: Lewisville Grand (black box), 100 N. Charles St., Lewisville TX
WEB: ghostlighttheatretx.org
