ART, written by Yasmina Reza, translated from French by Christopher Hampton, was UFV’s first theatre production of the 2019/20 season, and the first production of UFV’s new School of Creative Arts (SoCA).
The play centres around the conflict of Serge buying a piece of art that is simply a four-by-five foot white canvas with three white diagonal strokes for 200,000 francs. The three characters fight with each other for the entire show, revealing a contention among the three life-long friends that lies deeper than the purchase of an overly expensive painting.
The entire production took place in the intimate setting of the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Gallery, which had limited seating of just 25 people.
The three-man comedy starred UFV theatre students Paul Hill as Yvan, Tommy Luu as Marc, and Anatole Smith as Serge, and was directed by theatre professor Parjad Sharifi. The three actors worked well within the small space, and the audience felt as if they were sitting in the characters’ apartments with them. The lighting was well done, and actors would often cut away from the scene in order to monologue with just a spotlight shining on them.
The set had a minimalistic design, with just two benches and a table that the actors sat on and walked around throughout the show. There was a lot of interaction with props during the play as well, as the art on the “mantelpiece” was switched as scenes would take place in the different characters’ apartments to display that particular character’s taste of art. There was also a table with several bottles of pills that Marc would intermittently pop throughout the show, claiming they were different herbal pills like echinacea. Even though the show consisted of just three actors, there was the support of 26 people on the design and production side of the show, most of which were UFV students working on this play as a requirement for various theatre classes.
The show did not come off as a comedy, but rather a conflict between three grown men with repressed traumas fighting over art. It was ironic that a large part of the play involved making fun of pretentious art snobs who use words like “deconstruction,” but still used this same pompous vocabulary in the script. With the exception of a few profanities sprinkled into the dialogue, the script felt less like a conversation and more like chapters from a textbook shouting at each other.
The one geniously comedic moment of the play was by Yvan, who recounted a domestic drama in a long, exaggerated monologue in which he described a drawn out argument he had with his fiancée and estranged parents over miniscule wedding details. He simultaneously played both his own character and his character’s dramatic mother in a scene that is all too relatable to those who know the pains of organizing a wedding while navigating through deeply rooted family drama. It was a much needed comedic break that came around half-way through the 90-minute play.
The play’s conflict escalated from fighting over a painting to insulting each other’s intelligence levels, and even jabbing at one another’s spouses — the characters went as far as pushing Yvan to not go through with his marriage. There was even a poorly choreographed fist-fight at the height of the argument. In the end, Serge allowed Marc, who was adamantly opposed to the painting, to draw on the white canvas with a felt-tip pen, in order to prove that their friendship meant more to him than his treasured painting.
I would not classify this play as a comedy, as the majority of laughter came from the rehearsed laughs of the actors rather than the 20 audience members in attendance. It felt like watching a debate, as the three characters spent the entire show tearing each other down and justifying their own actions and beliefs. The plot did, however, did bring up an interesting dialogue around the market value of modern art, and who is capable of judging that value. It also asked the question of whether or not friendship is possible between those who hold radically different beliefs.
You can still catch a viewing of the show on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 at 5 p.m., and Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. in the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Gallery. Make sure to reserve your spot early as seating is limited.
Image: UFV Flickr
Photo: Anatole Smith, Tommy Luu
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.