A Picasso

Repertory Theatre of St. Louis Studio

Ohio-born playwright Jeffrey Hatcher is a bit of a hot property right now. The film version of his play Compleat Female Stage Beauty is on screens across the nation and a brilliant production of his witty 2003 drama A Picasso is on stage at the Rep Studio Theatre through November 14th [2004].

Inspired by an historical event - the burning, in 1941 Paris, of a collection of what the Nazis called “degenerate art”, including “a Picasso” - Hatcher's play is a duel of wits and ideologies between the legendary painter and the officious Miss Fischer - a German art critic and agent of the Reich. She wants him to authenticate three drawings - which may or may not be his - so that they can be consigned to the flames. He wants to leave the cellar in which he has been confined (and which designer Mary Ann Chiment has created with gritty realism) for an assignation with his latest mistress but can't bear to see any of his works - which are more real to him than his own children - become fuel for a Fascist bonfire.

As they argue, accuse and bargain, feelings and truths emerge that both have kept from themselves and from others. Picasso is compelled to acknowledge the less admirable and even monstrous sides of his character. Fischer confesses that she admired and even loved Picasso's work in her youth but has since risen in society only because of her public disdain for it. The balance of power rocks back and forth and in the process ideas about art, politics and (for that matter) the nature of power fly around the stage as quickly as clever one-liners and measured insults. Critics, in particular, take a real shellacking.

It all makes for an immensely entertaining if far from profound evening. It's not that Hatcher fails to pose interesting questions. Some of them even resonate strongly when they touch on contemporary events, as when Miss Fischer dismisses the power of art when compared with the power of bombs. It's just that the play's brevity - one act, around 70 minutes - makes it impossible to examine any of the issues in any depth. As a result, A Picasso is less a play of ideas and more a virtuoso acting exercise.

Fortunately, the Rep has two virtuoso actors in the roles. Matt Landers is a compelling Picasso, as he must be; in order for the play to work at all, we must believe that the painter is as charismatic as he is self-centered and Landers is convincingly both. Felicity La Fortune is an equally impressive Miss Fischer - in some ways a more difficult role since her character is the one to actually undergo real change in the course of the play. She has to move from arrogance to compliance and do it credibly. I was certainly convinced and, judging from the applause, so was the rest of the opening night audience.

The bottom line is that if you enjoy seeing a pair of actors at the top of their form parry and thrust like Olympic fencers while throwing around some stimulating fodder for post-theatre conversation (and who doesn't?) you won't want to miss the Rep's production of A Picasso. It's in the studio theatre through November 14th; call 314-968-4925 for ticket information.

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