‘Art’

While the decline of a friendship doesn’t sound like particularly promising material for a comedy, the global success of French playwright Yasmina Reza’s ‘Art’ has certainly proved otherwise. Telling the story of three friends whose bonds become strained by the simple fact that one of them has spent a very large amount of money on a painting which is nothing more than a white canvas, the play manages to push in seemingly opposite directions: on the one hand it reflects with some sadness on the way that individuals gradually drift away from one another; on the other hand it delights in the consequences of its own ingenious plot device, constantly forcing its characters into an absurd conflict over the whiteness of white.

Left to right: Felix Power (VI) as Marc, Charlie Carroll (V) as Yvan and Harvey Abrahams (VI) as Serge

‘Art’ had many highlights – the nasty exchanges of insults, the touchingness of the play’s last lines, an actual fight, comically awkward silences, the oddness of collective olive eating, a cheeky sketch on a white canvas – but perhaps the most memorable moment was Yvan’s massive monologue – a speech that, in the Friday performance, prompted the audience to erupt into applause not once but twice. Given that this moment was, by necessity, the product of careful and constant preparation, it is a fitting symbol of the excellence these boys brought to the Grammar stage.