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| Disconnected Picasso misses timing |
by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer
Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Balagan Theatre
Through May 30
Steve Martin, comedian, actor and playwright, is a pretty funny guy. Not everything he writes is a comedy, but you can pretty much assume that there will be some good laughs. Picasso at the Lapin Agile, produced at Balagan Theatre, has some pretty great laughs. Also some duds. You might expect a real story, since plays like The Underpants and movies like Roxanne have regular storylines. This particular show seems to be based on the start of a joke: Einstein and Picasso walk into a bar. Einstein, a young Einstein, full of himself and yet unknown to the world, does walk into the bar. And later, so does Picasso, also young and full of himself.
Don't expect a story. Don't even expect things to make much sense. It's an over-the-top silly comedy with vaudevillian moments you almost expect someone to beat a drum after. There are the people who run the bar, Mark Fullerton as Freddy and Megan Ahiers as Germaine, and a bar regular, Seanjohn Walsh, who constantly has to pee. They establish the silliness, with some great laughs and a few duds. In walks Einstein, played credibly and with good timing by James Weidman; a strange Picasso-conquered fan, Jane May, who wants to bed him again; the Countess (Annie Jantzer) who has come to meet Einstein there because he said he would be somewhere else, Sagot (Ray Tagavilla), an art dealer who knows good art when he sees it, and good art does not include sheep & and eventually Picasso, played by a wiry Trick Danneker who has a terrible Spanish accent, but has a couple of great physical comedy moments as he throws himself around the room. This almost constitutes a real set of characters and a story - almost.
There are some completely disconnected characters that float around: Jason Harber as a con-man type, Schmendiman, who gets his own stage-stealing moment and leaves, Terri Weagant as a Schmendiman fan, who also gets a stage-stealing moment - even shorter, and leaves, and Mike Dooly as Elvis - yup. The whole joke is directed by Shawn Belyea. Comic timing is sometimes a bit missing, but in a 65/35 split, with 65 on the side of funny.
You don't really need to know any science or art to participate. It's not a taxing show. Have fun. For more information, go to www.balagantheatre.org or www.brownpapertickets.com or call 800-838-3006.
Comments on reviews go to sgncritic@gmail.com.
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