Friday, October 6, through Sunday, October 8
St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center, 2101 North Gaines Street, Davenport IA
Described by Variety magazine as a work that boasts “plenty of laughs, a little romance, a little nostalgia – and it makes the audience feel smart,” St. Ambrose's theatre department opens its mainstage season with a popular verbal farce by comedian, actor, and author Steve Martin.
Set in the French bar of its title, Picasso at the Lapine Agile finds Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein meeting to discuss their new ideas: Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, which he'll publish in 1905, and Picasso's painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which he'll complete in 1907. As the men engage in a debate about the value of genius and talent, they intersect with a host of charming yet ridiculous characters, and as they do, according to the author, “the play attempts to explain, in a lighthearted way, the similarity of the creative process involved in great leaps of imagination in art and science.”
After its 1993 debut at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, Martin's 75-minute work enjoyed a long off-Broadway run and hundreds of regional presentations, with the New York Times raving that “Martin's authorial voice – with both its intelligence and its silliness – comes through loud and clear.” Corinne Johnson serves as director for St. Ambrose's production, with Jackson Green and Brian Leibforth respectively cast as Picasso and Einstein, and the ensemble is completed by actors Megan Clarke, George Cornelius, Sarah Goodall, T.J. Green, Adria Hogan, Tyler Hughes, Kayla Lansing, Ellie Larson, and Jim Seward.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)333-6251 or visiting SAU.edu/galvin.
