Review: Mad Cow's PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE

Picasso and Einstein meet at a bar, hate each other and then eventually become friends. Sounds crazy, right? Well, a little bit of crazy and a little bit of genius come together in Mad Cow Theatre's production of PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE in the best way possible.

Set in Paris in 1904, Steve Martin's 1993 play takes place at the Lapin Agile - an actual bar in Paris. Early on in the play we meet a young Albert Einstein (Wesley Slade) whose genius has not yet been realized by his fellow bar patrons. After all, he tells them himself that his mind is flowing with ingenious ideas about psychics and the Theory of Relativity. He may hold a lowly job at the patent office, but his intuitiveness is so sharp he tells the bartender, Freddy (Joe Llorens) and the barmaid, Germaine (Sarah French), that he purposely went to the wrong bar, and not the one across the street, because he knew the woman he was meeting would get mixed up and go to the wrong one (and she does!).

While the bar patrons may not realize just how amazing Einstein is, they most definitely know the profound impact of the genius that walks into the bar next... because he won't let them forget it. Pablo Picasso (Robert Johnston) is a young, debonair, haughty painter who yearns to make himself known in the art world. Suzanne (Sarah Lockard), a young woman whom Picasso has recently swept up and entranced, waits patiently at the bar, only to be humiliated when he does not seem to remember her. Being the womanizer and charmer he is, he quickly makes up for it and is forgiven. Picasso loves himself and the world he inhabits as long as no one mentions the name "Matisse." When Picasso and Einstein meet and discuss their extremely different art forms, things don't go over well. But throughout the play they learn they have more in common then they originally thought.

Along for the ride is a newly-old-aged Gaston (Tommy Keesling) who regails the bar and audience with his tales of getting old, enjoying and appreciating women, and his beliefs on art. While the entire play is laugh-out-loud hilarious, Gaston brought needed moments of comic relief when he would announce to the bar "I have to pee!" and then exit abruptly.

While Picasso and Einstein most certainly have their differences throughout the play, it's so fun to see how they come together and reach the conclusion that they both produce art that has meaning in one way or another. It's also a joy to see how the other characters either entertain or scoff at their genius or personality - for instance the character of Germaine has a fantastic critique of Picasso that could tear down any womanizer today (she calls him "unreachable" and calls out his ways while simultaneously using him without him realizing it. He is sleeping with her but his cunning ways have no effect on her, and he quickly realizes he is not as smooth as he thinks.)

It's easy to see the Steve Martin in this play. There are multiple fourth wall breaks - including one in which a character enters at the wrong time and another character checks an audience member's playbill to make sure the order of appearance is correct - and jokes involving play on words and one-liners. Through the hilarity of it however, there seems to be one clear message that is just as much applicable to today's world as it is that night at the Lapin Agile - science and art can collide to form, perhaps, the most wonderful types of art.

Mad Cow's production of PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE is a kooky and fun night of theater you won't want to miss. The show runs now through February 19. You can purchase your tickets here or call 407-297-8788.

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So, did you love PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE as much as I did? Let me know! Don't forget to follow BWW Orlando on Facebook and Twitter by clicking below. You can also connect with me about this show and all things theatre by following me on Twitter @libbychamps.

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