Art at Signature Theatre

Art

Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Avenue Arlington

Enter the world of Yasmina Reza's Art, where Serge's purchase of an expensive, abstract painting raises questions about the nature of art and friendship. Set in Paris, the story revolves around three friends who find their previously solid friendship on shaky ground when Serge invests in a new painting. The purchase reveals unsettling secret opinions and conflicting world-views. As their arguments shift from the theoretical to the personal, this Tony Award®-winning comedy examines the pressures friends place on each other – and how different values can transform relationships. From the author of Broadway's hit play God of Carnage.

Thru - May 22, 2011

Tuesdays: 7:30pm

Wednesdays: 7:30pm

Thursdays: 8:00pm

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sundays: 2:00pm & 7:00pm

Price: $30-$76

Show Type: Comedy

Running Time: 1 hr, 20 mins with no intermission

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Art Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Highly Recommended

"...And so “Art” sails along, funny, engaging and devilishly efficient. Brittle and slight? Or pointed and crafty? Audiences will no doubt debate on the way home, and with the playwright’s latest hit, “God of Carnage,” slotted for next spring, Signature — suddenly the local House of Reza — is banking on them to come back for more"

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- Nelson Pressley

MetroWeekly - Recommended

"...as a trio, there is plenty of rapport, comic timing and a pleasurable sense that everyone is in on Reza's joke and her more earnest wavelengths. For those who love and defend art as much as they enjoy a bit of irreverent ribbing, Art is an evening of provocative fun."

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- Kate Wingfield

Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended

"...These actors use their distinct appearances and methods of delivery—even the way they hold their bodies—to delineate the characters, making the audience see how their interrelationship depends on a subtle balancing act. Lescault, patrician and well-spoken, conveys an easy authority that might seem patronizing or pretentious to those around him. Hébert, bald and sometimes smug, knows when he's right in a situation and resents anyone who might disagree. Russotto, chunky and disheveled, is the burning fuse who gets to shoot off verbal sparks in one glorious monologue. Another part of the satisfying whole is the way the three men manage to retain some façade of civility even in the midst of their battle; a tiny bit of business involving olive pits is delightful."

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- Susan Berlin

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...Our emotional point of entry here could be Yvan, the soft corner of the triangle, whom the others keep around to echo their own opinions, or else to laugh at the way everyday trials continually overmatch him. Yvan’s slow realization that neither of his friends respect him should pack a punch, but Michael Russotto’s performance is so broad compared to the layered work Hébert and Lescault are doing that he seems to be in another show. (Specifically, Seinfeld."

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- Chris Klimek

Fairfax Times - Recommended

"...For much of the play, the large white painting is on prominent display, virtually a fourth member of the cast. The trio argue back and forth about the nature of their friendship but also about the painting -- whether it is white (it is) or perhaps emits subtle hues of various other colors (it doesn't). And the debate never slackens, as the three nag and needle each other, knowledge built over a 15-year friendship. Is the painting really the problem, or is it something else?"

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- David Hoffman

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Matt Gardiner’s handsome production at Signature, driven with sure-footed aplomb by this particularly talented trio of actors, proves itself capable of capturing the sore humor and the sad, touching truths of friendships thrown into a big white empty proving ground.

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- Hunter Styles

Art at Signature Theatre

Art

Art Reviews

Washington Post - Highly Recommended

MetroWeekly - Recommended

Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

Fairfax Times - Recommended

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

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