Review by Anna Przybylska
Almost thirty years on from its premiere, Yasmina Reza’s highly acclaimed play Art, translated from the original French by Christopher Hampton, still holds up to the test of time.
As relevant today as it was back then, Art not only debates the value of contemporary art and its substance but, in fact, uses it as a canvas for the play’s true themes of authenticity, friendship, division, and tolerance.
When Serge (Chris Harper), a well-off doctor, purchases an expensive ‘all-white’ painting for a hefty 200K, his long-time friend and mentor, Marc (Aden Gillett), sees it as an affront to their friendship, scorning his decision as pretentious and ridiculous, concerned that he has begun to take himself far too seriously. As their mutual friend Yvan (Seann Walsh) attempts to mediate and placate the both of them, he finds himself caught in the crossfire, accused of being spineless and unable to form his own opinions.
It is a simple premise, but one that surprisingly captivates for the most part, the drama of the piece kept alive by the interesting dynamic of the three very different characters, their respective quirks, and their worldviews, with the growing tension of the trio giving rise to the question of what really matters in friendship and society as a whole: like-mindedness and agreement, or tolerance and acceptance.
As my first time seeing the play, I cannot speak to how this new staging of the three-hander, directed by Iqbal Khan, stands against previous productions; however, I can say that the three actors bounce off one another effortlessly, doing justice to the wit of the writing and creating numerous laugh-out-loud moments for the audience.
Though the production does offer some poignant and warm moments to offset the humour of the piece, after some time of the characters going around in circles with their debate of the one mere painting and the implications of their respective views of the art on their friendship, the 80-minute play, though short, does nevertheless start to seem a little drawn out and begins to lose some of its impact.
As the trio’s argument came to a head, I couldn’t help but have the sense that I should feel more affected than I did; after all, when the 1998 production of the play received the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy, Reza stated, “It is intriguing to win the prize for Best Comedy, as I thought I was writing a tragedy.” I believe that is the crux of my issue with the play—though I laughed and smiled and did enjoy the piece, much like two of the characters’ views of the art in question, it simply didn’t ‘move’ me.
Art is at Theatre Royal Bath until 7 September, then touring
