ART

by Yazmina Reza,
translated by Christopher Hampson
directed by Nigel Havers,
and produced in arrangement with
David Pugh & Sean Connery
Performed by Chapterhouse Theatre Company
Williamson Park, Lancaster
Wednesday 11 August 2004

Reviewed by Michael Nunn
Photography by John L Burkinshaw

Serge buys a new painting.
Marc hates it. Yvan's certainly not sure.
What begins as a debate about the merits of modern art soon turns into a hilarious debate about the very nature of their longstanding friendship.

That is the programme-note brief for this West End and Broadway success which won the playwright an Olivier Award and the London Evening Standard's Award for best Comedy. As an expansionist and innovative move, the contemporary "smash hit,' is unusually brought to the open-air venues of beautiful Britain by Chapterhouse Theatre Company.

Not much to go at there, you may think, but this is French theatre, not mere Ayckbourn or the more astute Mike Leigh. So what's it about, then? It is difficult to imagine how the single, seemingly innocent act of purchasing an item of interior decoration could so affect the lives of three people. The absurd achievement or succès fou of this riveting piece stands on the scrupulously-observed and agonisingly-explored tensions generated from a commonplace situation.

"Just so long as it makes him happy'
The discussion about the qualities or otherwise of the canvas begins calmly enough, but soon becomes heated. The three friends are being (mostly) honest with each other, but getting a bit stroppy with it. We all have our own personal views on art, theatre and music, and sometimes find the tastes of others difficult to comprehend.

"The older I get, the more offensive I hope to become'
What many of us so often do, furthermore, is to champion our own preferences, or often our prejudices, at the expense of the feelings of others. As we rigidly stand on our dignity and pride, logic and reason fly out of the window the more in the right we simply know ourselves to be.

"I find these colours touching'
It takes a writer of considerable ability to be able to make us laugh at ourselves doing these things. Yasmina Reza takes the audience beyond just the increasingly heated discussion beyond the objective, way past even the subjective, and towards the realms of total relationship breakdown. Yet still we laugh as the situation becomes less and less dignified, more and more intense.

"It's white shit'
The abuse flies, the reason and logic warp, yet still we laugh. The report of fraught and frantic pre-nuptial plans, stunningly delivered after an unwanted phone call, further convolutes the emotions of the drama. The inevitable debate about the validity of modern art and the emperor's new clothes (the painting is basically a pure white 4' x 5' canvas with, allegedly, diagonal white lines), adds to the discussion. These complications add further dimensions to the riotously lunatic way human beings disport and conduct themselves with each other.

"… play a part in the fundamental dynamics of evolution'
So the desperation spirals. The three suavely-dressed and intelligent, professional men will never speak to each other again. The situation is beyond remedy, "non-récouperable.' And still the insane dialogue coruscates, mingling philosophy with nostalgia, expectations with exploration, so we still laugh beyond the pale.

Kyle Reece, Tom Sykes and David Chittenden as the three erstwhile friends gave a riveting performance of the hero-combatants in this unusual and compelling play. The action is set on a plain, minimalist set, carefully designed to indicate which of the friends' apartements we are in by the subtle changes in the artwork and the judicious placing of an ashtray. In this fine production, Chapterhouse has succeeded in bringing the essentials Gaulois of a wickedly funny play into a bizarre choice of venue.

"Well, I'm starving. Shall we eat?'
What about the end, then? Like Pangloss and his friends in Voltaire's Candide (‘Let's all go and work in the garden'), and presaging Jean-Paul Sartre, it is as though nothing has happened at all during the last one hundred minutes. Calm, fraternité and égalité are restored to the triumvirate.

In the words of our own theatrical tradition, "All's Well That Ends Well'. Perhaps …

Copyright © 17 August 2004
Michael Nunn; John L Burkinshaw