When one begins to question the multi-faceted nature of inspiration and creativity, whether artistic, scientific or purely commercial, there are several things that one must keep in mind. First, such a difficult question is best left in the able hands of someone like Steve Martin, and second, any reasonable response must be tempered with a fair amount of dick jokes. Mask & Bauble’s performance of Picasso at the Lapine Agile tackles these weighty questions while displaying that special brand of Steve Martin humor that audiences have come to know and tolerate.
Picasso at the Lapine Agile details a chance encounter between Einstein and Picasso in 1904, when both men are on the verge of their creative breakthroughs-Einstein is about to publish his theory of relativity, and Picasso is only a few years away from Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (the first of his paintings to exhibit Cubist perspective). During the course of the night the two dispute the relative merits of and differences between art and science, before coming to an understanding over the fact that both are more than just professions-that they are alike in their desire to create something new and different. Chris Hajduk (CAS ‘04) as Einstein and Mark Lukach (CAS ‘03) as Picasso are both experienced actors who play their roles with confidence and professionalism. Each character is portrayed as you might expect: Einstein is rational and levelheaded, while Picasso is bubbling over with artistic temperament—obnoxious, moody and obsessed with his own perceived sense of importance. Like all good times, it ends when a dead, time-traveling, pop star played by Chris Babayan (CAS ‘05) enters only to humble Picasso and Einstein by reminding them that all artistic and creative innovation is, well, relative, and that the artist or scientist should only be concerned with accuracy of vision.
The play is set in the Lapine Agile bar in France, famous as a hang-out for turn-of-the-century artists, poets and Frenchmen. It is a location that embodies the idealism and belief in the potential of the coming century. For this play, Mask & Bauble rearranged its Poulton space, so the audience enters through a set designed to look like a Parisian street before walking through the stage to get to their seats, as the performers ad-lib bar conversation. The set design by Mitch Fox (MSB ‘05) is well conceived, giving the impression of a seedy bar, and also allows for the use of some interesting effects. Costumes by Christina Logothetis (SFS ‘03) are very good on the whole, with the requisite amount of berets and handkerchiefs to let the audience know that they’re in Paris.
Picasso at the Lapine Agile was written by Steve Martin (SNL, Father of the Bride), which explains why some of the lines sound more like a comedian’s monologue than actual dialogue. When the script takes a break from the banal, obvious jokes that only the mastermind behind the film version of Sgt. Bilko could conceive, the play raises some interesting questions about the nature of the creative process. Is there a difference between the creative impetus for artists and scientists? What motivates us to constantly seek to give expression to the new and unimagined? Is it desire for recognition and commercial success, from sublimated sexual impulses (as Freud suggests), or an unexplainable drive that compels the artist or scientist to render and quantify the world in terms of their own vision?
Brian Soja (CAS ‘03) adroitly directs the scenes that deal most extensively with these questions by having a single character step forward to soliloquize about whatever matter he is struggling with before the scene reverts back to the usual style. And, like any good story that deals with the juxtaposition of time and space (such as Back to the Future Part II and, to a lesser extent, the first and third of the trilogy), there is bound to be a good deal of humor couched in jokes based around historical anachronisms and misconceptions. To its credit, this self-aware style of humor can be funny at times, such as when one of the character asks the audience, “Isn’t it amazing how the play fit exactly between the time when the lights came on and went down?”
Mask & Bauble’s production of Picasso at the Lapine Agile is well done overall—the cast makes the most out of a script that wavers back and forth between serious, intellectual debate over the nature of innovation and inspiration on the one hand, and lame comedy on the other. Those who like Steve Martin’s humor should appreciate the play, however, as well as anyone interested in gaining insight and perspective into the processes of artistic and scientific creation, or for that matter, dick jokes.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile is playing at Poulton Hall on Oct. 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 and 19 at 8 p.m., and on Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students, $9 for everyone else.
