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Arts & Entertainment
‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile
From Issue: Volume XVIII - Number 3
by Ben Miles Theatre Review
A scientist and an artist walk into a bar: This is the set-up for Steve Martin’s 1993 play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”—in production through February 13 at The Complex, in Hollywood. It just so happens that the scientist in question is Albert Einstein (a frantic Jonathan Biver) and the artist is Pablo Picasso (the suave Brandon Morgan).
In Martin’s scenario, the year is 1904, and Einstein is on the brink of at last publishing his Special Theory of Relativity (done in 1905), while Picasso is about to begin painting his masterpiece, Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon (completed in 1907). Their coincidental meeting takes place in Paris, and their pub of choice is known as the Lapin Agile (Nimble Rabbit)—which like the Cheers tavern of late 20th century TV fame, is replete with a motley bunch of boozers, losers, wannabe lovers, and intriguing others.
Directed at a quick clip by Justin Gordon, with a French Country scenic design by Andrew McCarty (who also produced the show and ably plays the bar’s owner/operator, Freddy), Picasso is a light frolic which Parallels and compares the arts and sciences as complimentary forms of expression and comprehension.
In the director’s notes, Gordon writes, “It seems fitting… to reexamine this play during a time when our own world is ripe for reinvention.” Aptly stated. Further, Martin has said of his own script, “Focusing on Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity and Picasso’s…Demoiselles d’ Avignon, the play attempts to explain, in a lighthearted way, the similarity of the creative process involved in great leaps of imagination in art and science.”
Never fear, however, Gordon and his game cast—including Quinn Mattfield’s ebullient portrayal of Martin alter-ego, Schmendiman; lovely Maria Pallas as Germaine; Joe Thomas, convincing as the bladder obsessed Gaston; and Aaron Golden as an unlikely visitor from the future—keep the action moving, even if the comedy often comes in at less than the speed of light.
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” continues at the Complex Theatre—6468 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles—through February 13. Show times are Thursday – Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. For reservations dial, (323) 960 – 7714. For more information visit, www.complexhollywood.com.
Dr. Ben Miles is a theater and speech instructor at the Art Institute of California and author of the e-book, “Onstage in the Millennial Age.” Ben’s doctorate is in education and his dissertation is on educational theater. Further, Ben has been writing theater criticism for over a decade and has held memberships in the American Theatre Critics Association and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.
