Control of the poloidal field (PF) in the Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX) is critical to achieving its mission of advanced tokamak research. Extensive examination of the plasma equilibrium; plasma start-up; plasma position, shape, and current control; and plasma shape reconstruction have been performed as part of the design process. This paper reports the progress in this area. The PF coils have been designed to produce a wide range of plasmas. Plasma start-up can be achieved for multiple conditions. Fast plasma position control coils inside the vacuum vessel are used for short timescale control of the plasma vertical and radial position. Shape and total plasma-current control are provided by the PF coils over a slower timescale. A new algorithm for shape control of a few critical plasma boundary points is described and used in simulations using the Tokamak Simulation Code. Fast magnetostatic reconstruction of the plasma shape is examined to determine the impact of measurement locations and their quality.