Theater Reviews

Jul 12, 1999 - The Play with Huge Egos and Lots of Laughs - Nevada Rep's "Picasso at the Lapin Agile"

By Jack Neal

Steve Martin's comedy, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," asks the question: "What if Picasso and Einstein had met at the turn of the century?" Their meeting in this time-warp play is at the Lapin Agile, a real-life bistro in Paris and watering hole for the ultra avant garde, circa 1904.

Director Jim Bernardi puts his fine Nevada Repertory Company cast through their paces with the speed of a Washoe Zephyr squeezing under one of Reno's downtown skywalks; there's not a wasted moment in this ninety-minute vaudeville-style play. There are, however, plenty of laughs, a few insights, and more than a smidgen of entertainment for summer audiences not in the mood for deep thought.

Winner of the 1996 New York Outer Critics' Circle Awards for "Best Play" and "Best Playwright," Martin's play revolves around an imaginary meeting between an over-sexed, brilliantly gifted, 23-year-old Pablo Picasso, and a brainy, brilliantly gifted, 25-year-old Albert Einstein. The two men vie for the attention of a young lady, Suzanne, and for each others' respect in a battle of ideas about most everything including lust, painting and the future of the world. A year after Martin's sharply written lines are imagined to have been said, Einstein published his "Theory of Relativity" and Picasson painted "Les Demoiselles D'Avignon," the painting that launched the cubism revolution and turned the art world on its ear.

Martin's grappling with the art of playwriting is something to behold. His characters chatter non-stop. "If I can think it," Picasso sniffs, "I can draw it!" When Einstein is handed one of Picasso's sketches, his voice takes on a reverential hush: "I never thought the 20th century would be handed me so casually." It matters little in Martin's scheme of things that his rush of ideas rarely dig below the surface. (What is it about Picasso's sketch that makes it the 20th century?)

Among the play's many set pieces is a brassy turn by the legendary (?) Charles Schmendiman and an other-worldly message from Picasso's muse, delivered by an in-the-future star, not mentioned here by name lest some of the play's fun be deflated before it's seen. The most provocative of the play's brief encounters is the whirlwind visit by Schmendiman. Schmendiman is a stand-in for Martin's early stand-up comic persona, which Martin once described as "a character with total confidence and nothing to back it up." Ultimately, it's Schmendiman's raucous intrusion about nothingness that makes "Picasso" so worth seeing. Evidently Martin - in the guise of Schmendiman - couldn't resist putting himself in the midst of his own play so he could mix it up with two of the world's favorite geniuses. Schmendiman's is the kind of bold nonsensical interlude that makes "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" like a Marx Brothers movie; the plot is but a pretext for a collection of comic turns.

Bernardi's stylish and fluid direction and finely-honed cast are uniformly excellent at making those turns come off like clockwork. John L. Curtis and Ryan Charlton are impressive as Picasso and Einstein, respectively. The handsomely profiled Curtis both embodies and parodies Picasso's legendary sexuality. Charlton's solid, improbably dashing performance is the engine that runs the show. He anchors his Einstein with a crisp, witty intelligence.

There's also fine work from Chadaeos Clarno as Freddie, the bartender with flashes of insight, and Cheryl Anselmo as Germaine, Freddie's patient girlfriend who sleeps around while she waits. Allan A. Maki is excellent as the garrulous Gaston, whose outbursts of commentary help push the play even further into something akin to comic surrealism. Annie Woods is an attractive Suzanne whose solid acting is a formidable foil for the men in her life. Also formidable is Tyler Dean, the fast-buck, art-dealing Sagot. Dean spiels off a bit about why people won't buy paintings of Jesus that makes so much sense it comes off as one of the show's funniest moments. Jess Willans is a brassy, over-the-top , cartoon-strip Schmendiman and he's terrific. Then there's the big-named (unnamed here) future star. To his credit Bill McCandless gives that pop icon an interpretation instead of an impersonation and has loads of fun with things as they're going to be. Jennifer Rae (the countess) and Kellene Stockwell (a female admirer) complete the cast. Both are just right .

The production's turn-of-the-century, French-bistro set is handsomely designed and realistically recreated by Michael Fernbach, who's also responsible for the play's excellent lighting. Chadeaos Clarnos has adroitly put togther the period costumes for the show's smartly dressed collection of players. Except for Einstein, there's not a hair out of place.

If you want to laugh - a lot - see this production of "Picasso at the Lapin Agile."

"Picasso at the Lapin Agile" is at the Redfield Studio Theatre in the Church Fine Arts Building on the University of Nevada, Reno campus, 900 North Virginia Street, Reno. The play concludes its run with performances this Wedenesday through Saturday (7/14/99-7/17/99) . Curtain time is 8 p.m. For ticket information call 775 784 6847.