Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Reviews

F. KATHLEEN FOLEY, The Los Angeles Times

The Company Rep makes a splashy and spirited debut in "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," the group's inaugural production as an independent production entity.

Set in 1904, the play revolves around a hypothetical meeting between Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein, visionaries on the cusp of immortality. The following year, Einstein would publish his Earth-altering "Theory of Relativity," while Picasso was shortly to launch the Cubist movement with his celebrated "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon."

Written by Steve Martin, "Picasso" was first produced by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1993. Buoyed by the mega-wattage of Martin's film celebrity, the Steppenwolf's virtually unaltered production, directed by Randall Arney, then had a record-breaking run at the Westwood (now Geffen) Playhouse. The staging by Arney (now the Geffen's artistic director), while noteworthy for the sheer lambency of Martin's intellectual ideas, seemed oddly brittle and facile, perhaps overwhelmed by the precincts of the theater's mid-sized space.

In contrast, El Portal's Circle Theatre is a fittingly intimate venue for the play, which director Hope Alexander has reconceived as a flat-out vaudevillian romp, high-decibel and unflaggingly energetic. Breathless, overwrought and fittingly passionate, Alexander's runaway staging lends new robustness to Martin's desultory but durable musings.

The pell-mell pacing occasionally outstrips the comic abilities of the actors, but those occasions are rare. As Einstein, Richard Wylie is rumpled, wry and formidably endearing. Although too handsome for Picasso, Eric Ashmore smolders satisfyingly in the role, while Jessica Pennington and Melanie Ewbank play sizzling femmes fatales of quite different stripes. Jackson DeGovia's wonderful set is cheerful and eclectic, a likely spot for inspired conversation and flights of cosmic fancy.

JULIO MARTINEZ, Daily Variety

A much-produced legit staple since its preem in 1993, Steve Martin's imagined 1904 Parisian night out with twentysomethings Pablo Picasso (Eric Ashmore) and Albert Einstein (Richard Wylie) works best when it takes on the energetic, no-holds-barred alcohol-tinged ambiance of bar folk who take no responsibility for what they say, only the desire to say it. In an impressive debut outing, the Company Rep (formerly Actor's Alley) plows through all the absurdities in Martin's extended one-actor, absorbing each moment with utter commitment and acceptance, even when they are treated to an impromptu visit from a time-traveling Elvis. Director Hope Alexander wisely offers her ensemble wide latitude while never allowing the scripter's meandering thematic through line to go too far astray.

At the heart of Martin's text is the often intriguing, humorous social confrontation between two neophyte creative giants. The droll, dapper Albert and the raucous, rapacious Pablo roam about the cozy Paris bistro, Lapin Agile (Nimble Rabbit), indulging in a predominantly lighthearted bout of dueling egos. Involving the more-than-interested bar patrons in their aesthetic musings, each is on the threshold of greatness, straining to unleash his genius on the emerging 20th century.

The main protagonists are well balanced. Wylie is perfect as the petite Einstein whose understated comments and retorts are exquisitely timed, always bringing the attention back to himself with minimal effort. Ashmore's Picasso travels the fine line between robust characterization and over-the-top caricature but exudes a sensual believability as the Spanish artist who can never quench his appetite for life, sex and art.

The adept supporting cast segues lightheartedly through all the shifting realities, designed to keep the proceedings and audience members off balance. When Einstein first makes his entrance, bartender Freddy (John Edwin Shaw) informs him that he's appearing out of order. Freddy even asks an audience member for a program to prove it. Later, when the departing Picasso-smitten Suzanne (Jessica Pennington) inquires when the artist will come to her flat, he replies, "When the play is over."

Also invading the proceedings are two modern-day specters who offer comical but foreboding glimpses at the century to come. Played to the "wild and crazy guy" hilt, Michael Uribes' Schmendiman is the personification of the mediocrity that will always be challenging those of genius. And the Visitor, the time-traveling Elvis (played to self-deprecating perfection by Dwayne Rider), forewarns Einstein and Picasso that their deserved fame to come will never outshine an icon created by the public.

Among the supporting cast, there are three performances that stand out. Pennington projects a comical but powerful sensuality as the Parisian gamine who has been seduced and forgotten by Picasso. Her passion-laden description of the seduction is one of the highlights of the evening. David Mingrino's art impresario, Sagot, is glowingly flamboyant, always managing to stay one step below going over the top. And Melanie Ewbank's barmaid, Germaine, is serenely secure as the most adult character in the room, projecting a wisdom and a sense of reality that always channels the rampaging dialogue of the others back to the here and now. The sets, lights and costumes of Jackson DeGovia, Nick McCord and Shon LeBlanc, respectively, evoke a wonderful sense of being in another time and place. The understated sounds of Tony Edwards also underscore the proceedings quite nicely.

EVAN HENERSON, Los Angeles Daily News

All this talk about a "new energy" coming out of the El Portal Center for the Arts can only be the harbinger of good things on Lankershim Boulevard.

The prime spark plug appears to be Hope Alexander, artistic director of The Company Rep, the new resident company of El Portal Center for the Arts' Circle Theater. (TCR replaces Actors Alley, although it includes several of the Actors Alley troupe members.)

A new name means a new identity -- one that is unattached to the financially plagued El Portal resident company. Alexander made this point quite clear in her pre-curtain introduction to the Company Rep's inaugural production, Steve Martin's "Picasso at the Lapin Agile." Then the lights dimmed, the cast got down to business and for the next 80 minutes, the Circle Theater nearly had more energy than it could contain.

Funny, this "Picasso" certainly is, even zany. Its author, it will be remembered, made a name for himself with a rubber arrow through his head, parading around as a "wild and crazy guy." That Martin also writes very witty and literate commentary for the New Yorker doesn't seem to have made an impression on the company interpreting this 1993 play. The Company Rep production -- which Alexander directs -- doesn't often aim for the cerebellum.

That's too bad, because Martin's nimble riff on the 20th century and its intellectual movers and shakers should play smart as well as caffeinated. Cast members would do well to follow the example set by Dana Craig's dour and sex-obsessed Gaston. "You can't just insult someone out of the blue," Gaston is told. "But I'm French," Craig tosses back with pitch-perfect nonchalance. Zing!

The Lapin Agile is a watering hole to some of Paris' more interesting minds and creative spirits. On a fateful evening in 1904, a pre-"relativity" Einstein (Richard Wylie) confabs with womanizing Picasso (Eric Ashmore) to determine who's going to get early-20th-century bragging rights. Martin laces his intellectualism with absurdity and Brechtian references to the construction of theater. The barkeep and his wife (John Edwin Shaw and Melanie Ewbank) get in on the action. A Parisian doxy named Suzanne (Jessica Pennington) pines lustily for the painter. "Do you know Picasso?" she is asked. "Twice," she says.

For the most part, the ensemble gets it, volleying Martin's dialogue around the theater like badminton birdies. The two leads play Einstein and Picasso as loopy characters, not historical archetypes. The production rarely lags, except during the monstrously hammy turns of David Mingrino and Michael Uribes playing, respectively, an art dealer and a would-be man of importance named Schmendiman. If these two had to share significant stage time, the place would risk spontaneous combustion.

Thanks to the surreal mural-bedecked set design of Jackson DeGovia, the Circle Theater has a smarter-looking tableau than it has enjoyed in quite some time. "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," and its newly transformed resident company, are worthy occupants.