In Steve Martin’s brainy and zany comedy, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein are celebrities in their own self-absorbed glory just before they became world famous. Yet, as directed by Liz Clark for the opening weekend of the 22nd annual Plein Air Easton Festival, they are relatable twenty-somethings when we meet them in Picasso at the Lapin Agile.
No one knows who Einstein is in the opening scene, set in a Parisian bar whose name, in English, translates as Nimble Rabbit. But, as played by Pat Fitzgerald, young Albert is as affable as he is confident, despite his modest status as a Class III patent office examiner. He spars with Gaston, a feisty senior habitué of the bar, swilling booze and dishing out zingers delivered by Dylan Lyles, cane in hand.
Another regular, Suzanne, an otherwise confident young woman portrayed by Jenny Madino, shares alluring details of her encounter with Picasso, who sketched her during a night together. She is disappointed to learn that he recalls the romantic words he spoke but not to whom he said them.
As for Picasso, women who frequent the Lapin Agile are familiar with his reputation as a womanizer, boasting of his sexual prowess almost as much as his artistic genius. Yet after a bombastic, cad-like entrance, Tyler Judd humanizes Picasso in his science-versus-art exchanges with Einstein while suavely soothing Suzanne’s bruised ego.
Adding farce to the Lapin Agile medley, Will Chapman, as manic art dealer Sagot, measures success by how much a painting can sell for regardless of taste, while Clay Owens, as Schmendiman, goes over the top to capture the dilettante pomposity of a self-described “genius.”
That leaves the hosts of the bar, whose clientele presents constant cabaret challenges. Freddy, portrayed by Ray Nissen as a know-nothing barkeep, and Ruthie Kellam as his sidekick and girlfriend, offer shreds of common sense where ego might otherwise run amok. Jaime Windon, as the red-headed Countess who helps keep the Lapin Agile afloat, also picks a winner in befriending the soon-to-be-published author of the Special Theory of Relativity.
But as the true genius pair—Einstein and Picasso—agree, there must be a genius troika to round out the 20th century. As the play takes place in 1904, it takes a Visitor from the Future to complete the genius hat trick. We will not say who it is, other than to acknowledge Brad Chaires as a time traveler whose passage through half a century causes him to put on weight.
If you see one of the final two performances, you’ll guess who the Visitor is—unless you’re too young to remember the second half of the 20th century. We choose not to be spoilers.
Meanwhile, set designer Maggie Sarfaty deserves particular credit for her period recreation of the Lapin Agile cabaret, the early 20th-century bar that has become a tourist attraction in Montmartre, the bohemian hilltop district of Paris, thanks in part to the enduring popularity of Steve Martin’s surreal comedy classic.
Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Opening night performance was Friday. Two performances remain: 8 p.m. Saturday, July 11, and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 12.
A Factory + Groove Theatre production at the Avalon Theatre, Easton.
avalonfoundation.org
