The West End Players Guild opens its 100th season in style with "A Picasso," a smart, fast-paced primer of the life and work of Pablo Picasso.
Jeffrey Hatcher's story, based on actual interrogations of the artist by Nazi officials while Adolf Hitler tried to remake German art, takes place in a vault beneath the streets of occupied Paris in 1941. Picasso is being questioned by the fictional Miss Fischer, a German cultural attaché who wants Picasso to authenticate three confiscated works thought to be his.
Picasso quickly identifies each as his own, but when Fischer tells him the paintings will be included in a bonfire of "degenerate art," the two reach a deal: Picasso may authenticate just one painting for the fire, and two will be spared.
But asking an artist to disown any of his work is akin to asking a parent to disown a child. Fischer advises that he think like a critic.
"First I have to think like a German," he says. "Now I have to think like a critic?"
Picasso's discussion of each of the drawings gives a glimpse into the mind of the artist targeted at that time for his antiwar painting "Guernica."
Kevin Beyer gracefully takes on the role of Picasso, presenting the larger-than-life figure in a way that's actually quite relatable. When the play begins, and he's alone in the vault waiting for Fischer, it's easy to see the fear on his face and in his movements. Once Fischer enters, he pulls himself together.
In retelling the events that shaped his life — the death of his sister, for instance, which had a profound effect on him — we learn the motivations for many of his political actions and artistic decisions.
Maggie Murphy portrays Miss Fischer with the force you'd expect of a Nazi interrogator but also with elegance and charm. Beneath her business-only exterior, Fischer is a devoted Picasso fan, and Murphy allows that to shine through at the right moments.
Murphy delivers her well-written lines with a convincing German accent. "We're all guilty of something," she tells Picasso at the start of the interrogation. "It's just a matter of finding the appropriate law."
Mark Wilson's gorgeous two-tiered set is piled high with artwork and plenty of detail. Amy Ruprecht-Belt's lighting design is simple yet effective, and Russ Bettlach's stylish period costumes are perfect. "A Picasso" is expertly directed by Steve Callahan.
No comments:
Post a Comment