'The thin veneer of politeness is scraped off, layer by layer, each daubing the others with insults and jibes, threatening the chance of any continuing friendship’, says Andrew Morris.
OUR VERDICT
Art at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Serge and Marc earnestly observe the canvas, propped up on a chair in Serge’s chic, minimalist Parisian apartment. The wealthy dermatologist is proud of his recent acquisition by a famous artist and presses his friend for an opinion.
Marc contemplates the painting a few more seconds, chin in hand before guffawing with laughter. ‘It’s a piece of s**t. A piece of white s**t. How much did you pay for it?’
The ‘painting’ is completely white, with a couple of white lines drawn across the canvas. And Serge is convinced it’s a steal at £200,000 as the gallery would have bought it back immediately for £220,000.
‘Art’ superficially pokes fun at the contemporary art world, but playwright Yasmina Reza uses this as the key to open a door into the underlying relationships between three old friends.
Marc meets Yvan the following day and tells him about Serge’s new piece of white s**t. But when Yvan sees the painting himself, he’s outwardly more emollient than abrasive Marc and agrees with their more effete friend that he too can see shades of other colours and meaning, amongst the stark white space.
The 20-year friendship begins to unravel as petty resentments are uncovered and we glimpse what the three really think about each other when they all meet at Serge’s apartment before going out to dinner.
Yvan brings the house down with a riveting stream-of-consciousness rant, arriving late because of arguments at home with his fiancée about names to go on the wedding invitation. But that allows his more acerbic friends to attack hitherto single and lonely Yvan, his would-be wife and his job as a stationery salesman.
The thin veneer of politeness is scraped off, layer by layer, each daubing the others with insults and jibes, threatening the chance of any continuing friendship.
Art was written in French by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton and first performed in London in 1996, with the illustrious trio of Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott wowing the West End and hoovering up awards. Since then, the list of names playing Serge, Marc & Yvan reads like a ‘who’s who’ of our best-known male actors over the last 20 years.
For the current national run, Nigel Havers is art-loving Serge, Denis Lawson plays suave, cynical Marc and Stephen Tompkinson is insecure, eager-to-please Yvan. Each captures the characters’ nuances perfectly, separately and collectively, as a blank white space proves to be the catalyst for a colourful meltdown amongst friends.
Venue: Now showing at the Richmond Theatre
Dates: 4 March - 9 March