California State University, Stanislaus Theatre Department kicks off their season with a production of the romantic comedy, “The Shape of Things” by Neil LaBute.
The play is about four college students and their relationships with each other. One character in the play, Adam, is a nerdy college boy who is influenced by his new artsy girlfriend, Evelyn. His old friends Jenny and Phillip do not like the changes they see in Adam, and it begins to hurt their relationships. 
“Besides the relationships, the play asks a lot of questions about art in general: what is art, the responsibility of an artist and the roles of artists in society,” said Eric Broadwater, the director of the play.
Broadwater even had his actors participate in drawing sessions with a life drawing model to get in the art mood, and to have them experience something they would not usually get from being an actor in a show.
The four-person cast has only been rehearsing the piece for about three or four weeks, which has resulted in long daily rehearsals, but also the chance to become a great group of friends that parallels to their chemistry as actors on stage.
“This is the best show I have ever been in,” Shelby Baker (senior, Business/Theatre) said. “I doubt I will be in any other show where I’ll establish a relationship like we’ve all established together. We’ve all gotten so close; it’s been a great experience.”
The cast unanimously agreed that anyone who plans to come see the show should keep an open mind. The director and actors both were careful not to reveal any secrets about the plot, only that there will be some great twists. Broadwater did mention that there are certain scenes in the play that push the actors to become “intimately comfortable.”
“Were going to end up doing some things that we have never really done on a level here which may open some eyes, or it may close some eyes,” Broadwater said.
The play opens on Thursday, Oct. 4, in the studio theater on campus. For more information visit www.csustan.edu/theatre and click on their calendar of events.