ART, now on stage on Hilton Head, offers rich dialogue sparked by a painting / Review
ART, now on stage on Hilton Head Island, delights and captivates with its sardonic, ironic wit, along with some sobering moments and a modifying touch of athleticism.
Written by Yasmina Reza, then translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by Libby Ricardo, the show at the Hilton Head Prep Main Street Theatre is filled with Reza’s particular brand of award-winning comedic satire, loaded with observations about contemporary middle class issues, and delivered with great good humor.
The three actors — marcus d. harvey, Matt Munday and Blake White — all impressively connect to take this Tony- and Moliere Award-winning play over the top. The show is typical of the always edgy, always thought-provoking productions offered by The Lean Ensemble.
harvey as Serg, Mundy as Yvan, and White as Marc perform brilliantly, keeping the audience in rapt attention. We did not want to miss a well-chosen word. They all bring to this production phenomenal qualifications and earlier performances at Lean.
Mundy’s frenetic antics have been notable in past Lean appearances, but wait until you see him when he steps out of the wishy-washy character Marc and Serge have assigned to him. He offers his long-time friends a close-up look at his mother, his fiancé, her mother, stepmother and associated in-laws, all as his friends take it all in.
That fateful evening…
Set in Paris, our play revolves around the three gentlemen who find their 15-year friendship dangerously close to ending. This incident is provoked when Serge, a dermatologist and who considers himself an informed collector of fine art, buys a painting for 200,000 francs. That is a showstopper in itself, but what moves his friend, Marc, near the edge is that the painting, the canvas, is all white (there may be a couple of fine white lines).
The two express their divergent positions about the worth of the painting and the reason for such a purchase. Enter Yvan, the third in the trio, whom his two friends think is incapable of putting himself on the line about anything, especially any of the positions held by the other two, to weigh in on the worth of the painting.
The disagreements and resentments and excuses give way to the heart of it all, the strong-willed unwillingness of each to accept the other’s different opinions.
Reza’s message, as she takes us through 90 minutes of thoroughly engaging theater, is that the issue is not really about the white painting, but about coming to grips with the unexpected, uncharacteristic autonomy, a non-alignment of thought about beliefs and attitudes they had always shared.
ART runs Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Hilton Head Prep School, Main Street Theatre, 3000 Main Street, Hilton Head Island.
For tickets, call (843) 715-6676 or visit LeanEnsemble.org