Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays
by Steve Martin
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Book Reviews of Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays
Book Review: Four plays by Steve Martin
Summary: 4 Stars
This slim book contains the screenplays for "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" [the Lapin Agile is a cabaret in Paris], "The Zig-Zag Woman," "Patter for the Floating Lady," and "Wasp."
The longer play is "Picasso at the Lapin Agile." I've not seen this performed, so the screenplay allows me to flesh out the story with my imagination. Consider a cabaret in its "off" hours; no more than a bar. You have your regulars, and in pops a young Albert Einstein, fresh from imagining the organizational rules for the Universe. Later, Pablo Picasso shows up, fresh from a sexual conquest. Finally, a stranger shows up (Elvis) to bring words of wisdom to all.
I can see that good actors would have fun with this.
"The Zig-Zag Woman" begins with this great pick-up line: "It's really nice the way your head is separated from your body like that" (p. 83). And, no, this isn't about sadist murderers! It's one of those magic illusions.
One of the characters ("Young Man") has an epiphany: "Every emotion is consumed by its opposite. Every ounce of pleasure is balanced by an equal amount of disaster. Generosity breeds contempt; power breeds weakness. Agony leads to a greater appreciation of bliss. You love your friends, they start dying; when your friends start dying, you take more chances with your own life. Every ache you feel makes its inverse more possible. And that is the ecology of joy and pain" (p. 91). Very Steve Martin!
In "Wasp" (not named after an insect), you explore a strange family with just enough recognizable elements to make people squirm. As the Dad explains Heaven: "Son, it's seventeen miles above the Earth. You enter through clouds. behind the clouds, there are thirteen golden steps leading to a vestibule. Inside the vestibule is Saint Peter. next to the vestibule are gates twenty-seven feet high. They are solid gold but with an off-center hinge for easy opening" (p. 119). Thank God for details!
Subtle, complex plays. I'd like to see them performed by competent actors.
Book Review: So Picasso and Einstein go into a bar....
Summary: 5 Stars
The play isn't nearly as "heady" as it sounds, however it is just as intelligent. It isn't necessary to have read Einstein's theories, nor is an appreciation of Picasso required. It certainly helps, but if you are huge fans of either men, you will probably be disappointed in that here they are representational of something else. Art and Science. The represent the 20th Century and a "visitor" from the future, which seems to be pure sight-gag absurdity, comes to remind us that sometimes art and science take a back seat to legend. As you read you discover at first that it seems Mr. Martin has diverted to some pseudo-intellectual babble with some bathroom humor thrown in. However upon reading it again, and subsequently being cast in a production, I discovered exactly the opposite. He has instead turned his "wild and crazy guy" routine into something profound. Not because it answers the questions it raises, but instead he is much smarter. He chooses not to answer them at all. Leaving the audience to ponder the nature and the purpose of art, science, destiny, love, relationships, men, women, Pop Culture, and the 20th Century. And what better way to ponder it than with some funny jokes rather than a boring lecture. The other plays in this collection are equally fascinating, and poignant. Mr. Martin knows his stuff. He tells it like it is with relationships, between men and women. Sometimes symbolically (Zig-Zag Woman) and sometimes he hits you right in the face when you aren't looking (WASP). Smart, funny, and sexy. Honest.Book Review: Perhaps, better seen than read (3.5*s)
Summary: 3 Stars
As a play this work would probably be pretty entertaining; as a book, it is less so. In a play dialog is everything. From a book, more is expected than dialog: narration, context, character development and thinking, some adherence to reality, etc.
Einstein and Picasso meeting in a bar before they are well-known is an interesting concept. There is no need to respect reputations. Einstein in called a pip-squeak immediately, which is excused because the speaker is French. Picasso's is chided throughout for his fixation on the color blue and bedding women. In one scene, Einstein and Picasso jab at each other over the relevance of their drawings done on the spot as a challenge: a few lines by Picasso, a formula by Einstein, resulting in Einstein being called a fake and Picasso an idiot savant. There is continual banter concerning meaning, randomness, nature of space and time, and the future. The injection of Elvis Presley corroborates the irrelevance of classic time concepts.
The dialog is snappy, frivolous, silly, ironic, quirky, smart, and absurd - over all fun and quick moving. There is no doubt that the play gives the author a platform for his irreverence concerning such matters as religion, celebrity, and the relativity and absurdity of life in the twentieth century, referred to as the age of regret.
PS. This review is concerned with the first play only. The other three are more or less throw-ins.
Book Review: A Dissenting View
Summary: 3 Stars
I admire Steve Martin's talent as a comedian and comic film actor, but I have to disagree with many of the previous reviews, especially the raves. Referring only to Picasso at the Lapin Agile, I have to say: a clever situation does not make a play, nor does a series of gags. These are essentially what Lapin Agile relies on to occupy its 80 minutes of stage time. Having worked on a professional production of this play, I'm compelled to point out that once all the major characters have entered, the play gets lost in aimless talk, which is supported by only the thinnest thread of theatrical or conceptual logic. If Elvis didn't show up toward the end, bringing a bit of spectacle to the party, the forward momentum of the play would limp to a halt. The play ends with a kind of corny summing-up of 20th century genius. Steve Martin fans love it: The one-liners and gags keep the play afloat. Given the promising premise, however, the chance meeting of Einstein and Picasso at a Paris bar, each on the verge of his greatest accomplishments ... well, the result is humorous, but disappointing. I can't help but think that Tom Stoppard could take such an idea and make a play that would be funny and profound.
Book Review: Worth it for Picasso
Summary: 5 Stars
I think in reality this probably deserves 4 stars, but I love "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" too much to rate it anything below 5. It's a great read and a lot of fun to act. It's funny on so many levels - everything from wacky and silly to crude to smart to dry humor down to the very subtle (like having an "e-shaped pie."... it's a math joke (pi)). The ideas in it are great, and I especially enjoyed comparing science to art. It's as much fun to think about intellectually as it is to see the different characters bounce off of each other. It's the kind of play that reaches everyone differently - especially through the various types of humor.
The other plays are so-so, some better than others. I like them for their read, but it's harder to see them as plays - perhaps I'm wrong. I liked Floating Lady because of the emotions and intensity I imagined as I performed it in my head. I liked Zig-Zag Woman because it was kind of cute, but I think I expected too much of the ending as I read it, so was a little disappointed. WASP was also somewhat interesting to read and draw ideas from, but as a play in and of itself I didn't enjoy it very much.
Hope that helps. In the end, just buy it for "Picasso..."