'Art' (play)
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"Art" is a play by Yasmina Reza that was originally written in French. It has been translated into twenty-three languages; the English version is was translated by Christopher Hampton and opened in London's West End in 1994.
The comedy, which raises questions about art and friendship, concerns three long-time friends, Serge, Marc, and Yvan. Serge, indulging his penchant for modern art, buys a large, expensive, completely white painting. Marc is horrified, and their relationship suffers considerable strain as a result of their differing opinions about what constitutes "art." Yvan, caught in the middle of the conflict, tries to please and mollify both of them.
The play is not divided into acts and scenes in the traditional manner, but it does nevertheless fall into sections (numbered 1 - 17 by Pigeat [2]). Some of these are dialogues between two characters, several are monologues where one of the characters addresses the audience directly, and one - which lasts for more than half the play - is a conversation among all three. At the beginning and end of the play, and for most of the scenes set in Serge's flat, the large white painting (referred to as "the Antrios," that being the name of the artist) is on prominent display.
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[edit] Productions
The original French version, directed by Patrice Kerbrat, opened on October 28, 1994 at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris, with Fabrice Luchini as Serge, Pierre Arditi as Yvan and Pierre Vaneck as Marc.
The West End production, directed by Matthew Warchus, opened on October 15, 1996 at Wyndham's Theatre, where it remained for five years. It then transferred to the Whitehall Theatre for an additional fifteen months. Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, and Ken Stott comprised the original cast.
After twenty previews, the Broadway production, also directed by Marchus, opened on March 1, 1998 at the Royale Theatre, where it ran for 600 performances. Alan Alda, Victor Garber, and Alfred Molina comprised the original cast. The same year, Molina was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance, and the play won the Tony Award for best original play. Brian Cox, Buck Henry, Judd Hirsch, Wayne Knight, Joe Morton, George Segal, and George Wendt were among the replacements later in the run.
The play also was presented in Berlin in 1995, Moscow in 1997, Madrid in 1998, Lima in 2006 and Hong Kong in 2007.
[edit] Plot
The first dialogue is in Serge's flat: Marc sees the Antrios (the white painting) and is appalled to hear that Serge has paid two hundred thousand francs for what he calls "a piece of white shit", but tries to laugh it off. Each of them has moments in which they tell the audience about each other, and how disturbed each is by the other's behaviour.
Marc goes to see Yvan (after telling the audience that Yvan is "a very tolerant bloke, which of course, when it comes to relationships, is the worst thing you can be"). Yvan introduces himself to the audience, explaining that he is a likeable failure, and about to get married. Marc arrives and tells him about Serge and the painting, and gets frustrated that while Yvan agrees that Serge's behaviour is absurd, he refuses to condemn it or to be particularly worried or upset by it.
Yvan goes to see Serge, and Serge shows him the painting. Yvan does not burst out laughing at it as he expected, and indeed gives every appearance of appreciating the painting.
Back at Marc's flat, Marc cross-examines Yvan about what happened at Serge's. He is again appalled that Yvan is 'parrotting Serge's nonsense', and tries to get Yvan to agree with his view.
The longest segment, in Serge's flat, involves all three of them. Marc and Serge are waiting for Yvan to arrive, so that they can all go out to the cinema. Marc has decided to be 'on best behaviour' with Serge: even when Serge taunts him he does not rise to the bait. But Yvan is late, and when Serge becomes disproportionately annoyed, Marc says that this is because he (Marc) is getting on Serge's nerves. Serge denies this, but then admits it to the audience.
Yvan arrives in a torrent of disjointed and almost unpunctuated prose, three pages long, about the problems with his forthcoming wedding. The others show little sympathy, but tease him instead. Much of this long scene is a struggle between Marc and Serge, sometimes playful, sometimes fierce, once becoming a physical fight; often interspersed with Yvan's ineffectual attempts to defuse the argument and make everything pleasant again. Several times Serge and Marc do unite to taunt Yvan, and at one point Marc's insults do drive him to leave, but he returns shortly after with another verbal outpouring.
Eventually, after Serge has goaded Marc to attack him physically (with Yvan once again interposing himself and getting hurt in the process) the tone becomes more serious, as Marc explains what his relationship with Serge has really been:
There was a time when you were proud to be my friend... You congratulated yourself on my peculiarity, on my taste for standing apart. ... Belatedly, you claim your independence. ... But I detest your independence. ... as far as I'm concerned you're a traitor.
Serge is appalled to be told that this is what their relationship has really been, and declares ruefully "here we are at the end of a fifteen year friendship." Yvan offers an opinion and once again Serge and Marc round on him with their taunts, this time driving him to tears.
After Yvan's tears and yet another long speech, this one pathetic and self-pitying, the mood has changed significantly. Yvan is now ready to say what he has earlier strenuously denied, that the painting is 'a piece of white shit': he and Marc laugh uproariously.
Serge leaves the room and brings the Antrios back in. Then he demands a felt-tip marker from Yvan and tosses it to Marc, inviting him to draw on the painting. Marc does so, drawing a skier with a woolly hat.
The play ends with three solos: Yvan talking about his wedding, Marc and Serge's decision to rebuild their relationship with a 'trial period'; Serge admitting to the audience what he did not admit to Marc: that he knew the ink was washable; and Marc ending the play with a fanciful description of the white painting and its significance: poetic or ironic, the author leaves the audience (or the director) to decide.
[edit] Awards and nominations
Paris production
- Moliére Award for Best Author (winner)
- Moliére Award for Best Commercial Production (winner)
London production
- Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy (winner)
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy (winner)
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play (Stott, nominee)
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director (nominee)
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Design (nominee)
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design (nominee)
Broadway production
- Tony Award for Best Play (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in Play (Molina, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Molina, winner)
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Reza, Yasmina (1996). 'Art', translated by Christopher Hampton, Faber and Faber. ISBN 0 571 19014 6.
- ^ Pigeat, Aurélien (2005). « Art » (in French). Paris: Hatier. ISBN 2-218-75089-9.
