[NEohioPAL]Winning "Art" Review at Beck

Fri May 23 14:17:48 PDT 2003

--part1_160.20c52312.2bffc2f4_boundary
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Call 216-521-2540 for tickets!!  

Production underscores human quality 

05/19/03

James Damico 
Special to The Plain Dealer
Yasmina Reza's sly comedy "Art" is a lot like the minimalist white-on-white 
painting that serves as its controversial centerpiece. Because the French 
playwright sketches her three male characters as types, rather than drawing them in 
realistic detail, the trio and their compulsive wrangling may be interpreted, 
like the title abstract canvas, in a variety of ways. 

Fortunately, director Carol Dunne's choice in Beck Center's thoroughly 
winning production is to underline the warmly human qualities of these nattering 
neurotics. 

A couple of seasons back, a Cleveland Play House mounting took a more urbane 
and detached approach that turned the characters into quaint eccentrics to be 
laughed at. 

Keynoted by Brian Zoldessy's show-stealing portrayal of lovable nebbish Yvan, 
who serves as Ping-Pong ball to his two friends' merciless paddling, Beck's 
more embraceable version presents the comically quarrelsome threesome as 
fumbling fellow mortals to be laughed with. 

Dermatologist and self-styled aesthete Serge (Jeff Grover) buys the subject 
painting for a staggering 200,000 francs. Buddy and self-styled cynic Marc 
(Paul Floriano) reasonably considers this lunacy. 

Over the 90-minute course of the intermissionless play, however, their 
friendly argument about modern art turns first rancorous, then downright vicious as 
the pair trash each other's behavior, beliefs and bedfellows. They drag Yvan 
into their bickering, when the poor shlump - suffering psychoanalysis, chronic 
unemployment and pending marriage to what his pals call a "gorgon" - only 
wants some soothing male bonding. 

The dispute eventually culminates in a hilarious vandalism of the painting, 
which, neatly enough, reconciles the trio to an even deeper relationship. 

Reza has a few pretensions toward saying something profound about friendship, 
but essentially this is a French bedroom farce for the brain - titillating 
verbal foreplay that substitutes for serious consummation. 

Director Dunne productively channels all the windiness into filling the 
show's sails and hews her performers to the humanizing course. Veteran Floriano in 
particular lends his stone-cold-fish character a recognizable vulnerability 
and blundering innocence that make the guy improbably bearable. It's an 
admirably canny performance. 

Similarly, Grover manages to indicate the susceptible cracks in Serge's 
armored self-importance. Slighting none of the man's anal smugness, he drolly 
convinces us of the caring person struggling to emerge from an emotional cocoon. 

Zoldessy's Yvan is both a sketch and a little masterpiece. Excepting only an 
overly overwrought monologue about a wedding-invitation disaster, the actor 
etches out a picture-perfect rendering of a put-down, put-upon, indelibly decent 
loser. This Yvan may whine and whimper, but he will never abandon his 
impossible dream of someday, somehow achieving a mediocre normalcy. 

The triptych of entirely engaging performances on view here make a trip to 
this modern "Art" gallery a lot less painful than usual. 

Damico is a free-lance writer in Cleveland. 

Call 216-521-2540 for tickets.  "Art" runs Thurs. thru Sun. til June 8th.  
Thurs.-Sat. at 8, Sun. at 3:00.  Come laugh!!

--part1_160.20c52312.2bffc2f4_boundary
Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><FONT  COLOR=3D"#800000" SIZE=3D4 FAMILY=
=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"ARIAL" LANG=3D"0"><B>Call 216-521-2540 for tickets!!&=
nbsp; <BR>
<BR>
Production underscores human quality </FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#800000" style=
=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"ARIAL"=20=
LANG=3D"0"><BR>
<BR>
</B>05/19/03<BR>
<BR>
<B>James Damico</B> <BR>
Special to The Plain Dealer<BR>
Yasmina Reza's sly comedy "Art" is a lot like the minimalist white-on-white=20=
painting that serves as its controversial centerpiece. Because the French pl=
aywright sketches her three male characters as types, rather than drawing th=
em in realistic detail, the trio and their compulsive wrangling may be inter=
preted, like the title abstract canvas, in a variety of ways. <BR>
<BR>
Fortunately, director Carol Dunne's choice in Beck Center's thoroughly winni=
ng production is to underline the warmly human qualities of these nattering=20=
neurotics. </FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#000000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff=
f" SIZE=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"ARIAL" LANG=3D"0"><BR>
<BR>
<IMG  SRC=3D"http://www.cleveland.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH=3D"1" HEIGHT=
=3D"1" BORDER=3D"0">    </FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#000000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-=
COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D3 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"arial" LANG=3D"0"><BR>
</FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#800000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D2=
 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"arial" LANG=3D"0">A couple of seasons back, a=20=
Cleveland Play House mounting took a more urbane and detached approach that=20=
turned the characters into quaint eccentrics to be laughed at. <BR>
<BR>
Keynoted by Brian Zoldessy's show-stealing portrayal of lovable nebbish Yvan=
, who serves as Ping-Pong ball to his two friends' merciless paddling, Beck'=
s more embraceable version presents the comically quarrelsome threesome as f=
umbling fellow mortals to be laughed with. <BR>
<BR>
Dermatologist and self-styled aesthete Serge (Jeff Grover) buys the subject=20=
painting for a staggering 200,000 francs. Buddy and self-styled cynic Marc (=
Paul Floriano) reasonably considers this lunacy. <BR>
<BR>
Over the 90-minute course of the intermissionless play, however, their frien=
dly argument about modern art turns first rancorous, then downright vicious=20=
as the pair trash each other's behavior, beliefs and bedfellows. They drag Y=
van into their bickering, when the poor shlump - suffering psychoanalysis, c=
hronic unemployment and pending marriage to what his pals call a "gorgon" -=20=
only wants some soothing male bonding. <BR>
<BR>
The dispute eventually culminates in a hilarious vandalism of the painting,=20=
which, neatly enough, reconciles the trio to an even deeper relationship. <B=
R>
<BR>
Reza has a few pretensions toward saying something profound about friendship=
, but essentially this is a French bedroom farce for the brain - titillating=
 verbal foreplay that substitutes for serious consummation. <BR>
<BR>
Director Dunne productively channels all the windiness into filling the show=
's sails and hews her performers to the humanizing course. Veteran Floriano=20=
in particular lends his stone-cold-fish character a recognizable vulnerabili=
ty and blundering innocence that make the guy improbably bearable. It's an a=
dmirably canny performance. <BR>
<BR>
Similarly, Grover manages to indicate the susceptible cracks in Serge's armo=
red self-importance. Slighting none of the man's anal smugness, he drolly co=
nvinces us of the caring person struggling to emerge from an emotional cocoo=
n. <BR>
<BR>
Zoldessy's Yvan is both a sketch and a little masterpiece. Excepting only an=
 overly overwrought monologue about a wedding-invitation disaster, the actor=
 etches out a picture-perfect rendering of a put-down, put-upon, indelibly d=
ecent loser. This Yvan may whine and whimper, but he will never abandon his=20=
impossible dream of someday, somehow achieving a mediocre normalcy. <BR>
<BR>
The triptych of entirely engaging performances on view here make a trip to t=
his modern "Art" gallery a lot less painful than usual. <BR>
<BR>
Damico is a free-lance writer in Cleveland. <BR>
<BR>
</FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#800000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D5=
 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"arial" LANG=3D"0"><B>Call 216-521-2540 for tic=
kets.  </FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#800000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff=
ff" SIZE=3D4 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"ARIAL" LANG=3D"0">"Art" runs Thurs=
. thru Sun. til June 8th.  Thurs.-Sat. at 8, Sun. at 3:00.  Come l=
augh!!</FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#800000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SI=
ZE=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"arial" LANG=3D"0"></B><BR>
<BR>
    <BR>
<BR>
</FONT><FONT  COLOR=3D"#000000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D2=
 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"arial" LANG=3D"0"> </FONT> </HTML>

--part1_160.20c52312.2bffc2f4_boundary--