THE PLAUSIBILITY OF IMAGINARY PICASSO
By V.I. Hambleton
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area theater
Weeks starting Feb.. 5, 2009
Vol. 11, No. 58
SAN JOSE---“A Picasso”, now at the San
Jose Repertory Theatre in a strong production,
is the
play to see if you relish a high-stakes verbal chess
game where art, Nazi politics, and sex are to be won or lost.
Author Jeffrey
Hatcher ("Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Tuesdays
With Morrie") creates an encounter between the flamboyant painter Pablo
Picasso
and a German woman that lasts, in the play, for the length of the play. Although the 70-minute encounter itself
is
fictional, history informs both the encounter and the two characters in
the
play, and you believe it could have happened, just like that.
It is the
autumn of 1941, and we are in Vichy,
France. Paris fell to the Germans a year ago;
Picasso, now 60 years old, has elected to remain in Paris, continuing
his work
of painting and his social life much as before.
Summoned from his favorite café, he has been brought to
an underground
vault where shelves filled with paintings line one side of the room and
a
table, chairs, and lamp on the other suggest this is a place for
interrogation.
Alone for some
minutes, Picasso storms back and forth and
beats on the door. Ms. Fischer enters, a
beautiful and icy blonde in a fetching black suit, a 1940-perfect black
hat and
sturdy-but-stylish black shoes. She
works for the German cultural ministry and wants Picasso to
authenticate three
“confiscated” (as in stolen from their Jewish owners) paintings. He is suspicious and expresses the doubt that
Nazis have any real appreciation of art, preferring paintings of dogs
and cats.
But he proudly
identifies the three pictures as his. As
the
sparring between the two continues, Ms. Fischer unintentially reveals
that an
exhibition is planned. This excites
Picasso, and he presses for details. He
wants to attend. She reluctantly tells
him it is a different kind of exhibition—it is to be a showing of
“degenerate
art”, which will be burned. Picasso
looks at the paintings again and says that on closer examination he can
see
that they are copies, and initiates a bargaining dialogue with Ms.
Fischer. Softening, she acknowledges
that she was, in pre-Nazi times, a student of art, a critic, and an
admirer of
Picasso. He talks of the women in his
life, connections between his amorous relationships and his art, and
says her
beauty prompts a desire to draw her. The
somewhat dramatic ending suggests that art triumphs over sex.
Picasso, who
was 5 foot 3 and stocky, is played by James
Carpenter, the well-known admired Bay Area actor, who is tall and lanky. It was a splendid, convincing
performance. Speaking at a Rep-sponsored
seminar prior to the play’s opening, he noted the challenge that he
faced and
said that he was spending hours watching videotapes and old movies of
Picasso,
noting the way he used his eyes and handled his body.
His study paid off in a convincing stage
performance. Carrie Paff is also a
believable female Nazi apparatchik who hides her misgivings (mostly).
Jonathan
Moscone’s direction and the set design by Erik Flatmo enabled this fine
performance. Meg Neville’s costume
designs were perfect. Ms. Fischer’s
appearance prompted a murmur of admiration (recognition?) from the
audience.
“A Picasso” plays at San Jose Rep until February 22. 101 Paseo de
San Antonio,
San Jose.
For
info: 408-367-7266, or go online.
#
© V.I. Hambleton 2009
V.I. Hambleton is a regular theater reviewer for artssf.com.
These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never
weakly)focus
on theater, dance and new musical creativity in performance, with
forays
into recordings by local artists, and a few departures into books (by
authors
of the region)as well.
#
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