Events

It’s the beginning of a new century, a time of relative innocence, and some degree of romanticism. It was a time of breaking boundaries in science and art. Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin, wonders what if contemporaries Picasso and Einstein accidentally met while in their twenties. In his delightfully witty trademark style, Martin places Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein together in Au Lapin Agile, a Parisian bar. It’s 1904 and both men are in their early twenties and on the verge of their greatest achievements: For Einstein, it’s the publication of the Special Theory of Relativity just one year later, and, for Picasso, it’s the creation of his cubist masterpiece ‘Les Demoiselles D’Avignon’ three years later. What ensures is a lively and lengthy debate about the nature of genius and talent interspersed with entertaining banter with a host of colorful characters, including an amusing barfly (Gaston), a gullible yet lovable bartender (Freddy), a wise waitress (Germaine), and a few other surprise characters who flounce in and out of the Lapin Agile. Audience members are in on the impending shenanigans from the opening moments when they are informed that the play will make several detours into the land of silliness. The fourth wall (the imaginary wall between the stage and audience) is broken and there are noticeable cracks in the time-space continuum.