Dan's Papers - August 24, 2007 - Picasso at the Lapin Agile at Guild Hall

Fans of comic actor/screenwriter/novelist/playwright Steve Martin should enjoy the John Drew Theater's production of his imaginative, zany comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Theatergoers who like a little slapstick served up with some intellectual punditry might also enjoy this 1993 play which first deputed at Chicago's celebrated Steppenwolf Theater and continued on to moderate success Off Broadway.

Martin sets the action in 1904, just before Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso separately introduced similar groundbreaking concepts in science and art: how one views an object or observes it in space depends completely on the viewer's perspective - there are no fixed absolutes. (Einstein published his theory of relativity in 1905, and Picasso introduced cubism in 1907.)

Steve Martin posits these two meeting at the real Parisian bar frequented by Picasso, the Lapin Agile. The resulting clash of ideas and egos, involving several persons in the bar as well as the two geniuses, is often clever,witty, and sometimes downright silly - all hallmarks of "wild and crazy" Steve Martin style.

Since this is a comedy of ideas with shtick characters who are one- or two-dimensional, Martin lets each one introduce themselves in a brief monologue. Joshua Perl, as Freddy the bartender, is first onstage. Freddy also serves as a sometime narrator, commentator, stage manager and, on occasion, interactor with the audience. He is quickly followed by Gaston (Gerard Doyle), a regular patron and older Maurice Chevalier type who has some of the play's best double-entendre dialogue. Next to enter is Freddy's barmaid/companion Germaine (Kate Mueth), a savvy, earthy woman who delivers the playwright's straightforward assessment of the future - with marketing strategy - in deadpan Carla-of-"Cheers" style.

By the time Josh Gladstone enters as Einstein, a little comic excitement is needed - and Gladstone comes through, right down to the lived-in suit, bushy mustache, wild hair and Teutonic accent. He is a delightfully engaging Einstein, especially when reciting the "e-pie" monologue. Next, lithesome, blond Ann Moller bustles in as Suzanne, a recent Picasso conquest looking for her lover. She performs her introductory aria with hopeful grace and aplomb. Enter suave Sagot (Kameron Steele), a wily art dealer who explains why he is necessary to the art business.

When Picasso (Joe DeSane) finally arrives, he must be a galvanizing, passionate personality to counteract all the other characters onstage. At the final preview performance, De Sane came across as an intense, self-confident, self-centered, womanizing Picasso. He soon takes on Einstein, and the two become great foils for one another.

The comedy turns truly absurdist with the entrance of Schmnediman (an antic Jonathan Peters), followed shortly thereafter by an explosive mid-20th-century Visitor (Nick Fondulis, who brilliantly parodies this real-life character). The Visitor, immediately recognizable, is totally out of place in 1904 Paris, but the future he foretells is now so outrageously true - remember, this play is written in the early 1990s - Steve Martin's absurdism seems clairvoyant. (Are we witnessing the decline of America?)

Director/actor/producer Josh Gladstone heads a cast of professionals who have worked together before and are starting to mesh as an ensemble. He and his backstage staff have created a viable thrust-stage theater within the vast East Hampton Studios'soundstage: Nicole Coppinger's inviting Lapin Agile bar, Andrew Nagel's sound design, Sebastian Paczynski's lighting, Amy Ritchings costumes and Steve Smith's technical tricks all lead to usher the audience in. Audience seating is open - theatergoers can sit at stageside tables or in rows fanning out from the elevated stage. There is not a bad seat in the house.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile plays Tuesday to Saturday evenings, 8 p.m., through August 31 with a matinee on September 1. Tickets ($28-30) are available at the Guild Hall box office (631-324-4050), onlineat www.guildhall.org, or from Theatermania (866-811-4111 or www.theatermania.com.)