Picasso at the Lapin Agile
When Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso meet head to head in a Parisian bar, there’s no telling what can happen. Add a future music star into the mix, and the early twentieth century is about to be rocked.
“To watch ‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile’ should be fun,” said Richie Call, the play’s undergraduate director and a senior majoring in acting/directing. “We want people to come and enjoy the show. The concept is something extraordinary. It’s comical but has a very intriguing twist to it.”
Au Lapin Agile, or the Nimble Rabbit, is the favorite hangout for an emerging painter, Pablo Picasso. One night in 1904, a youthful German scientist enters the bar to wait for a woman and in the course of the evening, the two young geniuses meet. Einstein and Picasso are on the verge of breakthroughs in their respective fields and as budding professionals, feel their work will be of the greatest impact to the new century.
This is the pretense of the play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” written by veteran actor and writer Steve Martin. Martin’s writing credits include two novels, several essays published in The New Yorker and several screenplays.
The play is being performed at the Caine Lyric Theatre, located at 28 W. Center in Logan, Feb. 10-11 and 15-18. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. As with most main stage productions, preparation for the play has been ongoing.
“As actors, we do everything we can to get into our roles,” said Sam McGuinnis, a junior majoring in performance. “We try to be true to our characters. The people in this play, for the most part, are real people and we want the audience to get a taste of who the person actually.”
In addition to portraying the parts as realistically as possible, the actors try to present the play with its original focus.
“If Steve Martin were to walk into the theater and watch us present his play, I would want him to say that was how he meant it to be done,” Call said. “There isn’t an instruction guide to tell you how it needs to be done. We as performers need to interpret it in a way that is best in accordance with the writer.”
This production, presented on a very slanted stage, aims to stay true to the script and intent of Steve Martin.
“Steve Martin writes this play about something very serious. But, as Steve Martin, he puts his own little twist on words. The wit is quick and very funny in addition to presenting an interesting message,” Call said.
“It’s really about how exciting it is when you’re on the verge of something,” Martin said in 1996 during an interview.
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” first played in one of Chicago’s premier theaters in the fall of 1993. It then spread throughout the country, according to comicgenius.com
The production is directed by Kevin Doyle, an associate professor in the theatre arts department, and Call. This student/professor directing duo is unique at USU.
“There hasn’t been an undergraduate director for one of the main stage plays for quite some time. It’s really an honor to be able to do this,” Call said.
Though previously involved in the annual student-directed one-acts, Call said there were many surprises and difficulties in directing such a large show.
“This isn’t one of the one-acts that theatre students do. It involves so much more. The coordination is the biggest issue. This cast has been one of the best I’ve worked with. The dedication is high and the pieces are just falling into place,” he said. “There is a magic in theater. The play has a magic to it, the actors have a magic to them, and the audiences brings the magic in with them. We want people to enter the theater and leave their troubles and worries at the door … we want to transport them to the bar so they can get all the magic intended.”
Tickets are available at the ticket office and are free to students with a USU ID. Because of mature content, the play is recommended for those ages 13 and older. For more info call 797-1500.
-nebutler@cc.usu.edu
Picasso and Einstien meet in a Parisian bar during Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile. The paly runs Feb. 10-11 & 15-18 and begins at 7 (Callie Grover)
Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Callie Grover)
Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Callie Grover)