Philosophy And Laughter Abound At The Players Club Of Swarthmore's Production Of Steve Martin's Picasso At The Lapin Agile

Theater: Players Club of Swarthmore Second Stage

Show Title: Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Opened: November 2, 2007

Seen: November 2, 2007

Reviewer: Karin Suni

Submitted: November 7, 2007

 

You would be hard-pressed to find someone nowadays who is unfamiliar with Steve Martin, but for whatever reason, his playwrighting credit is often overlooked in favor of his work as a comedian, actor and novelist.  Fortunately, the Players Club of Swarthmore Second Stage members have undertaken the task to remedy the situation by presenting Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile.  Imagine a night in a Parisian cafe in 1904 when Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein meet, discuss, drink and duel along with a parade of other cafe regulars and not-so-regulars, and you have begun to scratch the surface of the play.  Of course, in the hands of another playwright, this scenario could easily turn into a heady, message-laden bore, but by adding a special dash of Martin magic, the script instead becomes a philosophical and comedic discourse which the Players Club turns into a lovely evening at the theater.

 

The mood for the night is immediately set by the configuration of the room.  The stage area is surrounded by tables and risers with tables effectively extending the seating area of the Lapin Agile to include the audience.  There are refreshments to be had and all are welcome to bring food as well to continue the bistro feel.  Some in the audience brought a picnic basket complete with a bottle of wine, perhaps to toast to opening night.  Though the acting area is small and at one point there are as many as ten people on stage, because of the intimate arrangement and incorporation of the seating area, the tableau never appears crowded.  This is also due in part to first time director Kristy Boyer Chen’s clean blocking and sparse set design.

 

While it is possible to say that Picasso and Einstein are the lead characters in the play, to do so would be a grave mistake as it would negate the ensemble nature of the production.  In order for this play to work as it should, the cast must function as a whole, picking up the sometimes staccato rhythm of the lines and embellishing the interconnectedness of the characters with non-vocal clues.  For the most part the cast does a good job of carrying the story, the comedy and the philosophy throughout the evening.  A few standouts were Christopher Triebel as the owner of the Lapin Agile whose sarcastic straight man provides the backbone structure and support for the rest of the cast, Matt Stanzione as Picasso who gets the artist’s smarmy egocentric behavior dead on without disgusting the audience and Kaitlyn McGuire as a waitress whose performance balances cynical and caring and changes from one to the other seamlessly in the bat of an eyelash.

 

The others in the cast filled their roles well keeping the quips coming and the plot moving.  Unfortunately, Liam MacDonna’s pacing as Einstein was off by a bit which, compared to the on-beat performance of his cast mates, made him appear hesitant.  His lines were all there and he had a presence on stage that helped patch things over and at some points made the reticence seem intentional.  It certainly did not ruin the production, but since comedy is all in the timing, it did diminish it somewhat.  Perhaps as the run continues, his pace will pick up, which is all that his performance requires since it was otherwise fine.

 

Because of the size of the space and the intimacy of the seating area, the energy of a sizable audience would be a welcome addition to the production, enhancing the experience for the actors and the audience alike.  The unspoken give and take with audience members is not something that is always possible or easily done.  With Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the Players Club of Swarthmore Second Stage has arranged for just that kind of interaction.  Now all they need is you.

 

The play runs through November 17^th.