...a nonstop cross-fire of crackling language, serious issues of life and art expressed in outbursts that sound like Don Rickles with a degree from the Sorbonne...Reza is a fiendishly clever writer...'ART' sounds like a marriage of Molière and Woody Allen...
Anyone looking for a play that is funny, sophisticated, stylish, stimulating and moving should go to 'ART'.
...wildly funny, naughtily provocative...
That such a simple plot can throw up such profound and meaty ideas about the rules that dictate art and friendship is a real treat. Reza and Hampton have an acute ear for the idiocies, trivia and petty assaults that pepper the conversation between friends...The real pleasures come from Reza's creation of three beautifully defined, original characters...
Accomplished actors star in this slick, highly entertaining full production of Reza’s award-winning play. Three old friends—Serge (Balaban), Marc (Cox), and Yvan (Perry)—find themselves at odds when Serge purchases an exorbitantly expensive all-white painting. Drudging up old resentments, critiquing the white canvas and their personal relationships, and finally speaking to each other with complete candor, the three friends battle it out while exploring the value and meaning of art and friendship. The entire cast delivers stellar performances, with Cox offering a particularly memorable turn as the petulant Marc in a smart, stylish audiobook that’s a quick listen to boot. (Nov.)
This is not some irrelevant fringe production; it is a major intervention in the cultural debate of the country by people who are keen to keep the reactionary tides running. It is probably the most sustained attack on modernism yet seen on the British stage, and it represents a stern challenge to the brilliant success story of British contemporary art.” —The Guardian
“Not only brings to the stage a topical debate, it makes it invigorating, touching and finally disturbing. This dark comedy, translated from the French, in sparkling form, explores its themes through a rift between friends.” —Financial Times
“A remarkably wise, witty and intelligent comedy . . . has touched a universal nerve.” —The Times
“Chic, short, and wickedly, perceptively funny, it's the perfect West End play.” —Nick Curtis, Evening Standard
“Art, which has been translated from the French by Christopher Hampton, is filled from first curtain to ending with a dazzling array of language.” —Iris Fanger, Christian Science Monitor
“It's an actor's dream, a nonstop cross-fire of crackling language, serious issues of life and art expressed in outbursts that sound like Don Rickles with a degree from the Sorbonne. Brilliantly translated by Christopher Hampton, . . . Art takes that yawny old bore, the play of ideas, and jolts it to life.” —Jack Kroll, Newsweek
Reza’s award-winning play serves up crisp dialogue and pointed observations as three old friends trade barbs, philosophies, and allegiances—all while staring at a $100,000 white painting rendered on a white canvas. All three actors—Bob Balaban, Brian Cox, and Jeff Perry—have performed this work onstage. They bring to the audio production their fine-tuned comic timing and well-dramatized emotions, especially the characters’ concern for a friend in crisis. With these vocal performances, ART retains the urbane Continentalism of the original French production. The play is sophisticated, complicated, and very funny. B.P. 2011 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
