Want to see a play that has been censored? No, it’s not Spamalot, The Vagina Monologues, Godspell or The Laramie Project” (which have all been banned at one time or another from the stage). It’s comedian Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Yes, that Steve Martin, the standup comedian, actor, musician (he plays a mean banjo), teacher of comedy and playwright.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Martin’s imaginative script, is about a fictitious meeting between artist Pablo Picasso and scientist Albert Einstein, whose basic topics are the similarities of art and science as a factor in society, anarchy, self-awareness, ego and the forces that will shape the world in the 20th century and beyond.
In March of 2009, at LaGrande High School in La Grande, Oregon, 137 parents petitioned to have the play shut down before it opened, because of “some of the adult themes and content.” Martin, while recognizing that some of the “questionable behavior sometimes evident in the play is not endorsed,” compared the characterization that the play is about “people drinking in bars and treating women as sex objects” to summarizing Shakespeare’s Hamlet as being “about a castle.” Martin responded to the banning of the play at La Grande High School with an offer to underwrite a production of the play at an alternative location, stating he did not want the play to acquire “a reputation it does not deserve.”
The play has another interesting sidebar. It was not only the first full-length play written by Martin, but at its initial oral reading, which took place at the author’s Beverly Hills home, Tom Hanks read Picasso and Chris Sarandon read Einstein. How about that for a cast!
It’s October 8, 1904, before Einstein (Robert Kowalewski) is famous for his theory of relativity and Picasso (Roderick Cardwell II) has just started to transition into his cubistic style of painting. The setting is the Lapin Agile, a French neighborhood watering hole.
The duo debates topics such as the value of genius and talent and the cultural influences of the coming century in the company of an amateur barkeep/ philosopher Freddy (John Busser), his wife Germaine (Carla Petroski), a bizarre inventor, Charles Dabernow Schmendiman( Ronnie Thompson), Suzanne, a woman with whom Picasso had an affair (Becca Ciamacco), bar hanger-on Gaston (Rich Stimac), a Countess (Britt Will), and art dealer Sagot (Greg Mandryk). The Singer/Elvis Presley (Evan Martin) appears to add another aspect by delving into a musical, unintellectual cultural dimension.
After a lively exchange, Picasso and Einstein come to the conclusion that their abilities are both of value, as is the worth of the entertainer.
The script inspires thought and is filled with humor. Unfortunately, the production, under the direction of Jonathan Kronenberger, doesn’t generate the emotional and logical reaction needed to inspire audience reaction. The pacing is too languid, the accents confusing and often unnecessary, some performances are on the surface and substitute overdrawn affect for character development.
CAPSULE JUDGMENT: Comedian Steve Martin has written a thought-provoking, clever script which gets a less than stellar production. It’s not bad, just not what it could be.
Blank Canvas’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile runs through Sat 6/24. For tickets and directions go to blankcanvastheatre.com.
[Written by Roy Berko, member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle]
One Response to “THEATER REVIEW: ‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile’ at Blank Canvas Theatre by Roy Berko”
Cathleen Graf
This review commits an unforgivable sin. It gives away a major surprise point of the play. “The Singer” is not identified in the cast listing for a reason. Bad enough to include him in the picture, but then to actually name him in the review is an egregious spoiler. I took several friends to see the play, which I had seen years before. I am very glad they did not read this review in advance, since the surprise of The Singer’s identity was a great treat.