Art (play)

'Art'
Written by Yasmina Reza
Date premiered 28 October 1994
Place premiered Comédie des Champs-Élysées, Paris
Original language French
Genre Comedy
Setting The Paris apartments of Serge, Marc, and Yvan

'Art' is a French-language play by Yasmina Reza that premiered in 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The play subsequently ran in London in 1996 and on Broadway in 1998.

Productions

The play premiered on 28 October 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

The English-language adaptation, translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by Matthew Warchus opened in London's West End on 15 October 1996 at the Wyndham's Theatre (before moving to the Whitehall Theatre in October 2001) starring Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott, produced by David Pugh and Sean Connery running for eight years until 3 January 2003, with Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss (aka The League of Gentlemen) in the final cast.[1] Notable West End replacements included James Fleet, Stephen Tompkinson, Michael French, Richard Griffiths, Malcolm Storry, Tony Haygarth, Charles Lawson, Gary Kemp, James Gaddas, David Haig, Judd Hirsch, Richard Thomas, Joe Morton, Henry Goodman, Roger Allam, Stanley Townsend, Nicholas Woodeson, Art Malik, Frank Skinner, Tom Mannion, Danny Webb, Gary Olsen, Jack Dee, Mick Ford, Nigel Havers, Ron Cook, Anthony Valentine, Peter Egan, Patrick Duffy, Paul Freeman, George Wendt, Alistair McGowan, Sean Hughes, Colin Buchanan, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Barry Foster, Leigh Lawson, Simon Shepherd, Philip Franks, Stephen McGann, Jamie Theakston and Christopher Luscombe. During the production's West End run, the play toured the UK four times.

'Art' played on Broadway in New York at the Royale Theatre from February 12, 1998 to August 8, 1999, again produced by Pugh and Connery, plus Joan Cullman. The opening cast featured Alan Alda (Marc), Victor Garber (Serge), and Alfred Molina (Yvan), who was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance. 'Art' won the Tony for Best Play and went on to a 600-performance run. Replacement actors included Brian Cox, David Haig, Judd Hirsch, Henry Goodman, Joe Morton, George Wendt, Buck Henry, George Segal, and Wayne Knight.

From December 2016 to February 2017 the production, directed by Matthew Warchus was revived at The Old Vic in London to celebrate its 20th anniversary, starring Rufus Sewell, Tim Key and Paul Ritter[2] and began touring the UK from February 2018 starring Nigel Havers, Denis Lawson and Stephen Tompkinson.[3][4]

Overview

The comedy, which raises questions about art and friendship, concerns three long-time friends, Serge, Marc, and Yvan. Serge, indulging his penchant for modern art, buys a large, expensive, completely white painting. Marc is horrified, and their relationship suffers considerable strain as a result of their differing opinions about what constitutes "art". Yvan, caught in the middle of the conflict, tries to please and mollify both of them.

The play is not divided into acts and scenes in the traditional manner, but it does nevertheless fall into sections (numbered 1–17 by Pigeat).[5] Some of these are dialogues between two characters, several are monologues where one of the characters addresses the audience directly, and one is a conversation among all three. At the beginning and end of the play, and for most of the scenes set in Serge's flat, the large white painting is on prominent display.

Plot

Serge and Marc inspect the white painting in a 2011 production by OVO theatre company, St Albans, UK.

Set in Paris, the story revolves around three friends—Serge, Marc and Yvan—who find their previously solid 15-year friendship on shaky ground when Serge buys an expensive painting. The canvas is white, with a few white lines.

Serge is proud of his 200,000 franc acquisition, fully expecting the approval of his friends.

Marc scornfully describes it as "a piece of white shit", but is it the painting that offends him, or the uncharacteristic independence of thought that the purchase reveals in Serge?

For the insecure Yvan, burdened by the problems of his impending doom (wedding) where he is stuck in an insoluble problem and his dissatisfaction at his job as a stationery salesman, their friendship is his sanctuary, but his attempts at peace-making backfire. Eager to please he laughs about the painting with Marc but tells Serge he likes it. Pulled into the disagreement, his vacillations fuel the blazing row.

Lines are drawn and they square off over the canvas, using it as an excuse to relentlessly batter one another over various failures. As their arguments become less theoretical and more personal, they border on destroying their friendship.

Awards and nominations

Awards
Nominations
  • 1997 Oliver Award for Best Actor, Ken Stott
  • 1997 Oliver Award for Best Director (Warchus)
  • 1997 Oliver Award Best for Set Designer (Mark Thompson)
  • 1997 Oliver Award for Best Lighting Designer (Hugh Vanstone}
  • 1998 Tony Award Best Actor in Play (Molina)
  • 1998 Tony Award Best Direction of a Play (Warchus)
  • 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play

References

  1. ↑ Andersson, Benny; Ulvaeus, Bjorn; and Craymer, Judy (2006), "Mamma Mia! How Can I Resist You? - The Inside Story of Mamma Mia and the Songs of ABBA", Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, p. 151.
  2. ↑ Billington, Michael (2016-12-21). "Art review – Rufus Sewell shines in finely shaded character study". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
  3. ↑ "How the Old Vic has reinvented itself post-Kevin Spacey | Features | The Stage". The Stage. 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  4. ↑ "David Pugh on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  5. ↑ Pigeat, Aurélien (2005). Art (in French). Paris: Hatier. ISBN 2-218-75089-9.

Further reading

  • Reza, Yasmina (1994). Art (in French). Arles: Actes sud. ISBN 2-86943-410-3.
  • Reza, Yasmina; Hampton, Christopher (1996). 'Art'. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19014-6.
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