“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” examines artistic genius

Bryn Everett / Feature Editor / The USD Vista

How will we define the 21st century? Considering it is only the beginning, many probably hope it is not by our current war or even the upcoming election. What if we define 100 years by the futuristic thinkers and creations of its artists? That is the idea behind the theatre department’s production that ran this past weekend, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”

The play, written by the one and only Steve Martin, begins with the hypothetical situation of Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein meeting in bar in Montmartre, France in 1904.

Senior Kyle Beck and junior Michael Ahmad, played the roles respectively and offered great representation of the men most of us only know for their contributions during their lifetime. Picasso represents art, Einstein represents science and a short but memorable character named Schmendiman represents commercialism and ideas that don’t always turn out well.

The characters meet when their fame has not set into the rest of the world, and yet they are on “the verge” of something great, the upcoming century, while neither knows quite how their breakthroughs will play out. Einstein is just about ready to submit his first paper on relativity for publication and Picasso is ready to enter his Rose Period.

Throughout the play the nature of genius is examined. This idea comes to a head when Picasso and Einstein both realize their thought processes behind their creations is the same. All the characters talk about this and how inspiration strikes everyone regardless of whether or not their genius will appear in the history books. This is evident in the rare yet brilliant epiphanies of the bar owner Freddy, played by sophomore Spencer Schumacher. There is also a last minute appearance from “The Visitor,” played by sophomore William Hartley, who was a crowd pleaser as a young Elvis.

Beck, a theatre arts major, said playing Picasso was challenging and fun. “In the play Picasso is a brooding artist stuck in his ways. He gets inspiration from women and uses them for his artistic gains. He is not necessarily a good guy and that’s why he was so enjoyable to play. His character has lots of grey areas and it is really funny to watch as he interacts with others on stage.”

All the actors did a great tribute to the material written by Martin. Ahmad gets a laugh out of almost every one of his lines, especially well-timed insights and allusions to information that the characters clearly would not have known at the time.

Senior Rachel Salcer and junior Camille Monroe starred as the leading ladies both taken under Picasso’s spell. Salcer, a theatre arts minor and communication studies major, played Germaine in her first theater production at USD. “This play was such an amazing experience and I learned a lot from everyone involved in it. Being an athlete at USD, I had never been in a stage show besides the student labs from last semester, so it was a huge time commitment I wasn’t used to. But the nights of the show, the audience response was so unique. Each night the feedback was organic and every audience laughed at different jokes so it kept it unpredictable.”

The entire cast seemed pleased with the audience feedback and the material the play provided. “Doing a production in Shiley can be daunting because it is such a huge theatre to fill,” Beck said. “The student response was so vocal and lively it turned Shiley into such an intimate space. I think the whole cast was grateful.”
The most poignant part of the piece is the realization that art is not only a painting, but an equation that orders the universe, or a song.

The next production by the theatre department is a musical by John Lahiusa called “First Lady Suite.” It will run Dec. 11-14 in the Black Box Theatre in Camino 131. With an almost entirely female cast, it will definitely not be a performance to miss.