Theatre Review: Art, Lots Of Wonderful Bickering About A White Painting
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Last Updated 06 March 2019
Art is a Tart: ART at Richmond Theatre (and touring)
Art might never have seen the light of British theatres had Sean Connery and his francophone wife not seen a Paris production in 1994 and bought the rights. Its author, Yasmina Reza, thought she had written a tragedy but since the first Old Vic production in London thanks to its guying of Parisian mannerly pretension it's been hailed as an hilarious satirical comedy.
Its three nicely-suited, richly-fruited white middle-aged male roles have been a vehicle for countless actors with television pedigree. One wealthy dermatologist buys a "200 grand" painting which is almost pure white, and his friends' reaction develops into an earnest questioning of their 25-year friendship and some wonderfully bitchy bickering.
For us Brits, minimalism lies somewhere between bemusing and downright funny — whether it's John Cage's musical composition 4'33" where the orchestra stays silent, architect John Pawson's undecorated all white houses, or Yves Klein's monochrome paintings, we've always sent it up.
The roles are tricky to play and the current triumvirate certainly give of their best. As Serge and Marc, Nigel Havers and Denis Lawson need to get the audience on side while portraying quite unpleasant characters: snobbish, rich, patrician and, worst of all, French.
Stephen Tompkinson's younger, less bourgeois, stationery salesman Yvan is the relief, and it gives him opportunity for at least two splendid diatribes including a five-minute riff on the rival family demands for names to appear on a wedding invitation that simply brought the 'maison' down. He's using the same comic verbal dexterity and defensive body language that made his dodgy war correspondent 'Damian Day' such a delight in Drop the Dead Donkey.
As Nigel Havers says in this lovely interview with a very young reporter from Birmingham — 'the great thing about it is you can be in the pub by 9'.
Art, Richmond Theatre, The Green, TW9 1JQ, £20-£48. Until 9 March then touring
