Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Connecticut and the Berkshires


Regional Reviews by Fred Sokol

Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Long Wharf Theatre


David Margulies
It is difficult to imagine that Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile was more delightfully rib-tickling when it premiered two decades ago than in the current production running at Long Wharf Theatre through December 21st. Gordon Edelstein, directing, perfectly channels Martin's sense of the ridiculous, and the result is 85 minutes of heightened clever theater. One senses Martin's invisible presence from the moment the show opens. It feels that at any given moment he could actually materialize and join nine others on stage.

Michael Yeargan, the ever-talented designer, furnishes the 1904 Lapin Agile, a bar in Paris. Freddy (Tom Riis Farrell) embodies the large man who runs this establishment. Germaine (Penny Balfour) is his girlfriend who assists him and is not shy with advice. A youthful/zany Albert Einstein (Robbie Tann) soon arrives to espouse some intriguing and some absurdist theories. He also has great eyes for The Countess, played by Dina Shihabi. This actress also appears as Suzanne who has been taken and taken in by Pablo Picasso (Grayson DeJesus). A pivotal, comical, endearing figure throughout is Gaston (David Margulies). He often needs to find the facilities to relieve himself and this old joke is, nevertheless, effective. Margulies, playing an aging soul, is unhurried and his sense of timing is exquisite. Eventually, Sagot (Ronald Guttman), involved in the world of visual arts, arrives on the scene. Charles Dabernow Schmendiman (Jonathan Spivey) is pretty much known by his last name. Oh, to be so fittingly full of oneself and garner laughs for the effort—as does Spivey as Schmendiman! Finally, actor Jake Silbermann is late to the bar playing a guest, a recognizable Visitor (no further clues).

Martin's sharp humor is often of the tongue-in-cheek variety. It might appear that he is denigrating women. His edgy purpose, however, is quite the opposite. Speaking his dialogue, the character of Germaine, wiser than many others, is expressive of Martin's voice.

If there is a singular star of the evening, that would be Tann as Einstein. Energized and even bouncy when appropriate, the actor (thanks to Martin) delivers a much younger version of the physicist. With a quick mind, he is searching for validity and seeking women as he goes. Grayson DeJesus, as Picasso, hasn't as juicy a role. Early on, though, he sums up his mode of operation: "I have been thinking about sex all day." With this out of the way, he proceeds ...

Martin, setting his play at the beginning of the twentieth century, delves into the future. He wrote the script in 1993 and does not address the year 2000 and beyond. Through his characters, the writer speaks of art and science but without a trace of the heavy-handed. Many on stage are interested and in pursuit of lustful entanglement. As a writer, Martin tends to pile on witticisms and slapstick, too. By the third time Gaston informs all that he must retreat to the bathroom, everyone in the house knows what is coming, but this still works comedic charms.

Of course, Picasso and Einstein never, in reality, found one another at the Lapin Agile. If they had, perhaps these two major figures of the past century might have grown contentious as they debated the worth of art versus science. That Steve Martin dreamt up and articulated this fantasy encounter speaks to his own intelligence as a playwright. His script is not overly profound yet it is not without meaning. Glancing toward upcoming twentieth century decades with his knowledge of what actually transpires serves to liberate Martin. It affords him opportunities. Freddy and Germaine squabble about post or neo romanticism. The author fills the air with abundant quips and pushes his absurdist envelope to an extreme. On this very page, it might appear to be ludicrous to spend a lot of time positing different theories about sheep who appear in a rear wall painting. Martin comes back, however, to this painting time and again—and with success. The characters are eclectic, the comic devices quite broad, and Edelstein paces the production at a brisk clip—except for actor David Margulies whose distinctive Gaston moves about with dutiful deliberation.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile continues at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven through December 21st, 2014. For tickets, call (203) 787-4282 or visit www.longwharf.org.


Also see the current theatre schedule for Connecticut & Beyond


Photo: T Charles Erickson

- Fred Sokol