Picasso at the Lapin Agile is a deceptively simple play. At a mere 75 pages, it is a wisp of a one-act, taking place entirely in one evening and in one location, with a central cast of characters that barely leaves the stage. As we quickly come to discover, however, there is far more to this story. Written by the incomparable Steve Martin, Picasso—much like the artist’s famous paintings—is far more than meets the eye.
The show seamlessly blends realism and absurdity, past and present. At no point are these inconsistencies and anachronisms explained, apologized, or justified—they are merely an a priori part of the world Steve Martin weaves. Furthermore, this blending and blurring of time, space, and place are all absolutely essential to the story Steve Martin is telling. Only in this world could Picasso, Einstein, and Elvis all share a mutual moment of revelation in a Parisian bar in 1904.
This play is about the expansion of ideas, the breaking of borders, and the pushing forwards towards and exploration of things new. Picasso and Einstein believed that art and science were means for exploring worlds beyond perceptions, beyond appearances. As these two geniuses and the host of other characters at the Lapin Agile discuss the dawning of a new century, groundbreaking ideas are what matter. Sagot—a character stuck firmly in the past— says that it is the frame, “the boundaries, the edge” that make a painting great. He insists that one has to “stay within the borders to make it interesting.” These worn out notions of restriction represent exactly the kind of bounded thinking that the forward-focused genius of Picasso and Einstein went on to break down in the 20th century.
Even more remarkable, Picasso and Einstein were very much working on breaking down the same walls, solving the same problems—just by different means. Clearly this play is a meditation on the nature of genius, and it is undeniable that modern science is founded on the genius of Einstein and modern art is founded on the genius of Picasso. But aside from these obvious facts, what is perhaps the most significant discovery this play’s meditation on genius brings to light is that Picasso and Einstein—both in their 20s, both about to have the most remarkable breakthroughs of their careers—held far more intellectual similarities than they did intellectual differences. Indeed, the play reveals that they are not counter-poised against each other, but are rather complements of one another. It is not art versus science—it is art through science, and science through art.
Indeed, as Arthur Miller writes in his book Picasso, Einstein: Space, Time, and the Beauty that Causes Havoc, Einstein's approach to space and time was not primarily mathematical. Notions of aesthetics were essential to his discovery in 1905 of relativity and a new representation for light, and then in 1907 of a means to widen relativity theory to include gravity. Nor were Picasso's studies of space totally artistic in the narrow sense of this term, as his interest in scientific developments reveals. Picasso's new aesthetic for his great work, Les Demoiselles D'Avignon, was the reduction of forms to geometry.
These striking similarities form just one of the many layers placed within the pages of Martin’s play. Through humor, he allows his audience to find a place in the Lapin Agile along side Picasso, Einstein, Gaston, Freddy, Germaine, and the rest. The audience is brought into this evening conversation just as actively as those on stage, getting to laugh and ponder in equal measure along with those enjoying the evening in the Lapin Agile.
Notes for Designers
I would love to takes these concepts of expanding borders, playing with anachronisms, and toying with elements of space and time… and translate them into the designs.
The color story this show tells is very true to Picasso’s painting of the Lapin Agile, which is below (Au Lapin Agile). The only adjustment I would make is to imagine replacing the orange elements in the picture with deep reds instead—I see the particular shade of orange in the painting as a bit too garish for our purposes. The colors that this play evokes are deep reds, deep yellows, deep oranges, and various woody earth tones.
The Lapin Agile itself should feel underground, slightly seedy, and bordello-esque. Deep red wall paper, an old wooden bar, and—since it is an intellectual and artistic think tank—the walls should be cluttered with paintings, sketches, and other various things the owner of the Lapin Agile has gotten from his patrons over the years.
Below are some various images I found inspiring when thinking about the show:
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