- By Yasmina Reza
- Translated by Christopher Hampton
- Directed by Matthew Gardiner
- Scenic Design James Kronzer
- Costume Design Kathleen Geldard
- Lighting Design Mark Lanks
- Sound Design Matt Rowe
- Starring Mitchell Hébert, John Lescault & Michael Russotto
A simple white canvas. A 200,000 francs pricetag. The real cost? Decades-long friendships. Enter the world of Yasmina Reza’s Art, where Serge’s purchase of an expensive, abstract painting raises questions about the nature of art and friendship. Set in Paris, the story revolves around three friends who find their previously solid friendship on shaky ground when Serge invests in a new painting. The purchase reveals unsettling secret opinions and conflicting world-views. As their arguments shift from the theoretical to the personal, this Tony Award®-winning comedy examines the pressures friends place on each other – and how different values can transform relationships. From the author of Broadway’s hit play God of Carnage. “Art is not so much a comedy about art as it is about friendship—and the limits of friendship.” - The New York Times Art is sponsored by Arlene and Robert Kogod. See What the Critics are Saying: “Crisp, chic… funny and engaging!” – The Washington Post “A cerebral romp!” – Metro Weekly “Rife with juicy one-liners.” – DCTheatrescene.com “A modern classic! Hilarious and incisive!” – TalkinBroadway.com
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The Cast
Michael Russotto (Yvan) DC AREA: Arena Stage: Legacy of Light, On the Jump, The Wild Duck; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: House of Gold, Full Circle, She Stoops to Comedy (Helen Hayes nomination), Vigils (Helen Hayes nomination), The Faculty Room, The Velvet Sky, The Art Room, Lenny and Lou, Homebody/Kabul, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World, The Gene Pool, The Pitchfork Disney; Folger Theatre: Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing; Kennedy Center: American Scrapbook, Teddy Roosevelt and the Ghostly Mistletoe, Mermaids; Rep Stage: Travels with my Aunt; Theatre J: The Chosen, Born Guilty, Love and Yearning; Olney Theatre: Stanley, Present Laughter; MetroStage: Girl in the Goldfish Bowl; Washington Stage Guild: Aristocrats; Studio Theatre: Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Slab Boys Trilogy. REGIONAL:L.A. Theatre Works: Seven Days in May.
Michael Russotto (Yvan) DC AREA: Arena Stage: Legacy of Light, On the Jump, The Wild Duck; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: House of Gold, Full Circle, She Stoops to Comedy (Helen Hayes nomination), Vigils (Helen Hayes nomination), The Faculty Room, The Velvet Sky, The Art Room, Lenny and Lou, Homebody/Kabul, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World, The Gene Pool, The Pitchfork Disney; Folger Theatre: Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing; Kennedy Center: American Scrapbook, Teddy Roosevelt and the Ghostly Mistletoe, Mermaids; Rep Stage: Travels with my Aunt; Theatre J: The Chosen, Born Guilty, Love and Yearning; Olney Theatre: Stanley, Present Laughter; MetroStage: Girl in the Goldfish Bowl; Washington Stage Guild: Aristocrats; Studio Theatre: Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Slab Boys Trilogy. REGIONAL:L.A. Theatre Works: Seven Days in May.
Michael Russotto (Yvan) DC AREA: Arena Stage: Legacy of Light, On the Jump, The Wild Duck; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: House of Gold, Full Circle, She Stoops to Comedy (Helen Hayes nomination), Vigils (Helen Hayes nomination), The Faculty Room, The Velvet Sky, The Art Room, Lenny and Lou, Homebody/Kabul, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World, The Gene Pool, The Pitchfork Disney; Folger Theatre: Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing; Kennedy Center: American Scrapbook, Teddy Roosevelt and the Ghostly Mistletoe, Mermaids; Rep Stage: Travels with my Aunt; Theatre J: The Chosen, Born Guilty, Love and Yearning; Olney Theatre: Stanley, Present Laughter; MetroStage: Girl in the Goldfish Bowl; Washington Stage Guild: Aristocrats; Studio Theatre: Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Slab Boys Trilogy. REGIONAL:L.A. Theatre Works: Seven Days in May.
Creative Team
Mark Lanks (Lighting Design) SIGNATURE: [title of show], Show Boat, First You Dream, See What I Wanna See, The Little Dog Laughed, Les Misérables (Helen Hayes nomination), Anyone Can Whistle in Concert, The Happy Time, Glory Days, The Studio, Funny Girl in Concert, Songs for a New World (at Strathmore), My Fair Lady, The Sex Habits of American Women, Nevermore, Pacific Overtures. Also Shakespeare, Will, Aftershock, Civil Wars, Eve of Destruction for Signature in the Schools. BROADWAY: Glory Days. DC AREA: Studio Theatre: The Solid Gold Cadillac; MetroStage: Tick, Tick, Boom; Olney Theatre: Triumph of Love, Big River, National Players Tours 59-62, La Tragédie de Carmen. REGIONAL: Tulsa Opera: Carmen, Marriage of Figaro; Stoneham Theatre: The Sparrow (IRNE nomination), Around the World in 80 Days, Pal Joey, The Violet Hour. Event Services Manager at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. EDUCATION: BA, Susquehanna University; MFA, Boston University.
Matt Rowe (Sound Design) SIGNATURE: And the Curtain Rises, Sunset Boulevard, Walter Cronkite is Dead., A Fox on the Fairway, Chess, Sycamore Trees, [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb, Dirty Blonde, Giant, The Little Dog Laughed, Les Misérables, Anyone Can Whistle in Concert, The Visit, The Happy Time, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Glory Days, Merrily We Roll Along, The Witches of Eastwick. DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred); Nobody's Perfect.
Julie Meyer (Production Stage Manager) SIGNATURE: Sunset Boulevard, Walter Cronkite is Dead., Chess, Tamar and the River (21/24 Workshop), [title of show], I Am My Own Wife, Show Boat, Dirty Blonde, The Boy Detective Fails (21/24 Workshop), Giant, Glory Days, Les Misérables. OFF-OFF-BROADWAY: Fist in a Pocket: Washing Machine. REGIONAL: Lyric Theatre: Stephen Schwartz's new musical Snapshots: a Musical Scrapbook, Disney's High School Musical, Oklahoma! Evita, Singin' in the Rain, Once on This Island; ReVision Theatre: Hair!, Scrooge in Rouge; Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre: Jane Eyre; Little Me; Dirty Blonde; I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. EDUCATION: Rutgers University, MFA, Stage Management.
James Kronzer (Scenic Design) SIGNATURE: Over 20 productions including Walter Cronkite is Dead., A Fox on the Fairway, Sweeney Todd and Show Boat. BROADWAY: Glory Days. OFF-BROADWAY: Opus, Under the Bridge. DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Oman O Man; Shakespeare Theatre: The Beaux Stratagem (Helen Hayes Award); Washington Ballet: Cinderella; Round House Theatre: The Picture of Dorian Gray; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: Clybourne Park; Olney Theatre: Dinner with Friends, Democracy; Folger Theatre: Hamlet. REGIONAL: Playmakers: Opus; Arden Theater: Sunday in the Park; Something Intangible (Barrymore Award); Philadelphia Theater Co: Elegies; Denver Center: The Catch, When Tang Met Laika; As You Like It (Weston, VT); A Christmas Carol (Worcester MA & Knoxville TN). NATIONAL TOURS: Thomas the Tank, Barbie Live!, Backyardigans; Scenic co-ordinator: Spamalot, The Wizard of Oz, Drowsy Chaperone, The Producers. TELEVISION: Whitney Cummings, Eddie Griffin: Comedy Central. AWARDS: 8 Helen Hayes Awards, 2 Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia). AFFILIATIONS: United Scenic ArtistS.
Kathleen Geldard (Costume Design) SIGNATURE: And the Curtain Rises (world premiere), Sunset Boulevard, Walter Cronkite is Dead. (world premiere), A Fox on the Fairway (world premiere), Chess, Sycamore Trees (world premiere), Sweeney Todd, I Am My Own Wife, Show Boat, See What I Wanna See, Les Misérables, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Happy Time. REGIONAL: La Jolla Playhouse, Huntington Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Vineyard Playhouse, Studio Arena Theatre. DC AREA: Woolly Mammoth Theatre: Eclipsed;Round House Theatre: Permanent Collection, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Eurydice, Orson's Shadow, Life x 3; Imagination Stage: The Neverending Story (2008 Helen Hayes nomination), Twice Upon a Time, The Hundred Dresses; Olney; Folger Theatre; Studio Theatre Secondstage; Everyman Theatre; Theater J; Rep Stage. DANCE: Liz Lerman Dance Exchange: Nocturnes, The Farthest Earth From Thee, 613 Radical Acts of Prayer, Funny Uncles, Imprints on a Landscape: The Mining Project.
Mark Lanks (Lighting Design) SIGNATURE: [title of show], Show Boat, First You Dream, See What I Wanna See, The Little Dog Laughed, Les Misérables (Helen Hayes nomination), Anyone Can Whistle in Concert, The Happy Time, Glory Days, The Studio, Funny Girl in Concert, Songs for a New World (at Strathmore), My Fair Lady, The Sex Habits of American Women, Nevermore, Pacific Overtures. Also Shakespeare, Will, Aftershock, Civil Wars, Eve of Destruction for Signature in the Schools. BROADWAY: Glory Days. DC AREA: Studio Theatre: The Solid Gold Cadillac; MetroStage: Tick, Tick, Boom; Olney Theatre: Triumph of Love, Big River, National Players Tours 59-62, La Tragédie de Carmen. REGIONAL: Tulsa Opera: Carmen, Marriage of Figaro; Stoneham Theatre: The Sparrow (IRNE nomination), Around the World in 80 Days, Pal Joey, The Violet Hour. Event Services Manager at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. EDUCATION: BA, Susquehanna University; MFA, Boston University.
Matt Rowe (Sound Design) SIGNATURE: And the Curtain Rises, Sunset Boulevard, Walter Cronkite is Dead., A Fox on the Fairway, Chess, Sycamore Trees, [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb, Dirty Blonde, Giant, The Little Dog Laughed, Les Misérables, Anyone Can Whistle in Concert, The Visit, The Happy Time, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Glory Days, Merrily We Roll Along, The Witches of Eastwick. DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred); Nobody's Perfect.
Julie Meyer (Production Stage Manager) SIGNATURE: Sunset Boulevard, Walter Cronkite is Dead., Chess, Tamar and the River (21/24 Workshop), [title of show], I Am My Own Wife, Show Boat, Dirty Blonde, The Boy Detective Fails (21/24 Workshop), Giant, Glory Days, Les Misérables. OFF-OFF-BROADWAY: Fist in a Pocket: Washing Machine. REGIONAL: Lyric Theatre: Stephen Schwartz's new musical Snapshots: a Musical Scrapbook, Disney's High School Musical, Oklahoma! Evita, Singin' in the Rain, Once on This Island; ReVision Theatre: Hair!, Scrooge in Rouge; Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre: Jane Eyre; Little Me; Dirty Blonde; I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. EDUCATION: Rutgers University, MFA, Stage Management.
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