September 11 – October 14, 2007
By Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Andrew Barnicle
Director Andrew Barnicle talks about Art
When did you first see a production of Art?
I saw the original London production about 10 years ago. It was the first preview, and it was interesting because the three actors had not had an audience before and they did not know how funny the play was. There were some long pauses when they had to wait for the audience to stop laughing. It would go on for minutes at a time. It was quite an experience. We tried to get the rights to it immediately, and the producers laughed and said maybe in about 10 years you can have the rights. They were correct, and here we are.
What struck you about the play that made you think it was perfect for The Laguna Playhouse?
The most obvious reason is that the play is about art, and we're in Laguna Beach, an artists colony. But it's also about three men and male bonding, and what the fabric of male friendship is, which is very interesting in that it follows us presenting a play about women and their experiences about menopause. It's also a very funny play, and it's very streamlined. It doesn't present a lot of production obstacles. You just need to get three really good actors and let them fly.
You mentioned that Art is a comedy. Can you describe the type of humor in this play?
The humor grows out of the circumstances in the play. There is never anyone attempting to be funny in this play or make anyone laugh, it just is funny. It's the circumstances of this triangle of human beings and what would develop if someone said what came perfectly natural to them in that moment. When I saw the play in London, it was absolutely hilarious, because the actors - in character - didn't know they were being hilarious.
What about the discussions of art in the play?
The old debate about what is art certainly seems ripe for examination. The play is mostly about the pretension of people who claim to comprehend and appreciate contemporary abstract art-deconstructionist art in particular. One character is a nuts and bolts kind of guy, and refuses to be drawn into the notion that art could be intrinsically valuable in monetary terms simply because the painter is a celebrity. That's primarily what's being discussed here in terms of the art itself, but mostly its about the fact that they feel the way they do. It causes the three men to examine their relationships with each other, and the relationship with the world they live in, and to take stock in who and what they are because of the purchase of this painting. The painting is the discussion point that allows the men to discover their deeper selves.
It sounds like the audience may come away examining some of their own relationships.
Absolutely. You do ask the question along the way that if these guys are so different from each other, how did they become such good friends to begin with? That gets explained over the course of the play-why they needed each other when they first met, what they represented to each other, what they have taken for granted about each other that may or may not have been true. I think we can certainly apply that to our own lives.
You have directed so many different types of plays at The Laguna Playhouse. What is your approach to directing Art?
This is a play for an actor's director. In my opinion, the director needs to not be a presence in the performances. There should be nothing that the audience sees and says wow, how did the director think that up? There should be no pretensions or updating or changing the words. Just put them on a simple set, keep the designers in the service of the play, and let these guys start talking, because that's what it's all about. If you get three really good actors and you let them each do the best acting they can do, you should be okay. The staging is simple enough, it's a living room and three men who walk around and talk to each other. Other things go on-there is a fight and things occur that are funny, but there's no complicated staging, no need for any theatricality above and beyond what these guys have to say to each other.
So the text is paramount in this play?
I think that's the key. The staging is simple enough, you just make sure they don't bump into each other. Essentially my goal is to help each actor understand the subtle nuances of the relationships, because that's what this play is about-how the relationships change in subtle ways, word by word, page by page. You can't bulldoze through the play nor tip toe through it. They have to calibrate their performances in tandem with each other. They have to listen to each other. It is my intention that by the time we finish, these actors will feel like they just gave the best performances they have ever given.
Read more about ART and modern art in the new issue of Callboard: A Playgoer's Guide
List of the major modern art movements and timeline
Quotes by playwright Yasmina Reza
