There was a time in recent America when we were a country in search of definitions for so many things in our lives.

We wanted to know what women wanted, we wanted to know what space was like and we wanted to know how bad Communism really was. It was a time of innocent questions, especially when compared to the 2015 we live in now.

I’m reminded of those innocent times after seeing the opening night of "The Shape of Things," the Neil LaBute play that serves as the second outing for the impressive All In Productions.

The major player in this outing is the revivalist question of just what art is. And the discussion reminds me of nothing so much as a basement lounge in a college building where earnest freshmen and sophomore art students sip hot tea and have heated discussions about what it is they mean when they say the word "art."

LaBute is a fearsome playwright, but the conceit in this play is without subtlety or even conscience. It is obvious from the earliest going that everything that is going on is not as it seems, and if we are just patient enough, we’ll be rewarded with clarity when all is said and done.

The play begins when Evelyn (Tess Cinpinski) is found standing near a statue of God with a can of spray paint in her hand. Adam (J. T. Backes) is the part-time guard who sees her "step over the line," a phrase that portends all that is to follow.

Tess is a graduate student in art, a sculptor. Adam is a nerd. She boldly explains how she wants to spray paint the genitalia of the sculpture. He is fearful that he might have to stop her.

Naturally, he asks her out; she says fine, and they are off and running as the Odd Couple of this small college town. She is fiery and passionate. He is constrained and full of fear. She is highly sexual, and he is barely not a virgin.

LaBute begins to drench us in the single most sinful charge of any marriage: how to change your spouse. Evelyn does a thorough remake of a willing Adam. She changes his hair, his weight, his clothes and his appreciation for art. She even gets him to stop biting his fingernails. He gets his nose done.

Enter couple number two, Jenny (Andi Jaspersen) and Philip (Evan Koepnick). He is Adam’s former roommate and best friend. Jenny sat next to Adam in a class and wondered why he never asked her out. Jenny and Phillip are engaged to be married, and they are going to have the wedding underwater.

That’s the first bell to ring in the cacophony of things that are a little hard to believe and that have about them the smell of manipulation.

Everybody is amazed at the new Adam that Evelyn has wrought. Jenny is so amazed that she meets with Adam, and they kiss and head to a beach, ostensibly to bury the magic that just occurred between them.

Phillip is the beer swigging, profane 22-year old who can’t figure out whether he really wants to get married, but he does know that he thinks Evelyn is full of crap. Phillip is the one thing in the world that Evelyn truly hates: the boor who can’t understand her art.

As this 100 minute-plus drama plods toward some promised reveal, the dirt and boredom and bitterness in many a relationship become apparent. Each couple struggles.

And then comes the ending.

I won’t spoil the surprise for anyone who goes to see the play, but I’m not sure that surprise is the right word. I’m not sure what is the right word, but it’s not surprise.

"The Shape of Things" is only the second outing for this fledgling theater company. They made their debut last December with a stunning production of "The Last Five Years," which was one of the best plays of the season.

LaBute’s play is no less a great performance.

Cinpinski, who was spectacular with the gone but not forgotten Youngblood Theater Company, shows how much she has grown. She is a marvelous actor with a beautiful sense of timing and the ability to capture both the actuality and spirit of her character.

Backes is almost too nerdy and insecure for belief. It’s hard to imagine anyone full of so many neuroses who still manages to get around in this world. He is appealing and open but could give us a little more than just a rubbing of his thumbs as a nervous tic.

Jaspersen is a sweet young thing to perfection, and when it’s time to show that she may be something more than that, she swings into action. Her non-apology to Evelyn is one of the highlights of the evening.

Koepnick has this role down pat. He is swarthy and smarmy at the same time, and he uses his bluster to hide all of his own doubts.

Layna Martinez directed this play. She did well to adapt it to the space at Villa Terrace, and she obviously gave her actors the room they needed.

There is a pretense about this play that may have something to do with compromises we all make in all our relationships. But the only compromise needed is to see this play for what it is, not for what it thinks it may be.

The Shape of Things runs through April 11. Information on tickets and showtimes is available here.