Until 5 May, the Teatro Infanta Isabel in Madrid (Calle Barquillo, 24) presents the black comedy Una cuestión de formas (The sape of things), by Neil Labute, in a version by Elda García-Posada.
Directed by Andrés Rus, this new version of the play is performed by Esther Acebo, Bernabé Fernández, Lluvia Rojo and Chema Coloma.
Neil LaBute is a first-rate author as a playwright and filmmaker, and a recognised enfant terrible of the independent universe. A Matter of Form is by far his most complex and fascinating work, and in it are present, with a more nuanced and corrosive humour, some of its author’s main motifs. This production has hardly ever been seen in Spain. One of the few times it was staged was by Gerardo Vera in 2003, starring Maribel Verdú.
Una cuestión de formas tells the story of how Adam, a somewhat dull and anodyne boy, works in his spare time as a museum guard in a small university town. One day he meets Evelyn, an attractive, temperamental and transgressive art student, who is devoted body and soul to preparing the final project for her thesis. The two begin an intense love affair that shakes up Adam’s conventional world (which he is willing to change any feature of himself for her). However, his physical and emotional transformation soon affects his friendship with Jenny and Philip and leads to unexpected consequences for everyone.
This brilliantly constructed, superbly constructed and dialogue-driven black comedy revolves around the limits of contemporary art, although its basic theme is the manipulation of human relationships. Tickets can be purchased at this link.
