Humor Can Be Funny: UW's Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Phil Kruse as Albert Einstein explaining the art of science. Photo by Frank Rosenstein.
Comedy is hard. Humor is harder.
The University of Washington School of Drama's production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile is a study in the triumph of comedy over humor. Steve Martin's play is a sort of potpourri of witty scenes, farcical happenings and the occasional serious statement. The difficulty in the play is finding the correct balance. Too much emphasis on intellectual wit makes the play seem like a sterile pastiche of Tom Stoppard; too much broad farce turns the play into a sitcom; too much emphasis on message spoils the audience's dinner. The converse is also true. Fail to stress enough of the three elements and the play simply falls apart.
Director Andrew McGinn is blessed to have such a marvelous cast. Phil Kruse is one of the most brilliant young actors I have seen in a long time. His generosity on stage and how he never comes into a scene until needed yet manages to make every actor around him even stronger with his mere presence and subtle support are quite remarkable, and something I wish more actors would remember. His chemistry with Robert Bergin was by far the best thing in the UW's production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle earlier this year, and in this production the pairing of his Einstein with Mr. Bergin's Picasso is truly inspired. He brings the best out of Mr. Bergin and everyone around him and by himself hides the weaknesses in the production.
It is when Mr. Kruse leaves the stage temporarily to run away with the Countess (the always raucous, always lovely Shelbyrae Anderson) that the production's flaws become crystal-clear. The crucial scene between Mr. Bergin's Picasso and Sarah Loveland's Germaine as they talk about their illicit affair fails badly, but it also fails in a way that is exemplary. The two actors play the scene as a fairly heavy-handed romantic conflict. They also play it completely without wit and without irony, which is a mistake. Part of the problem is that Steve Martin's script here is at its most deadpan and will not bail anyone out. This scene sticks out like a sore thumb, unless a sure-footed director realizes that it must play like a French nouvelle vague and that it is in fact the seed of Picasso's vision of the Visitor that occurs shortly thereafter.
This mistake of tone is consistent throughout the play. Where there should be farce, there is farce. But where there should be wit, there is also farce. Where there should be a discursive tone, there is also farce. It is as though the director is afraid he might actually have to be serious for a moment, or worse, subtle. The balance of qualities that is the definition of humor often tips unfairly in the wrong directions.
If it sounds like I am being hard on Andrew McGinn's direction, I am. I think he fails to realize at times the consequences of some of his choices. His choice of emphasizing the broadly ridiculous at the expense of quick wit forces the actors to slow down the moments where there is an obviously intellectual joke to a pace that is positively British. His choice of three different actresses to play Suzanne, The Countess and The Admirer also has an enervating effect, though it does give one a chance to glimpse the skills of Maura Tang, Shelbyrae Anderson and Malia Hughes. If one is going to go against tradition that is fine and good, but one needs a good reason to do so. In this production everything argues against it.
These are not minor quibbles. I draw attention to them because Mr. McGinn's command of the technical elements of directing is so masterful. His attention to stage picture is exquisite and he has a fine visual imagination. Where too many directors concentrate solely on the technical, Mr. McGinn does not need to, as they seem to come naturally enough to him. This makes it easier and therefore more imperative for him to concentrate on interpretation. It would be a disservice to squander such a talent on theater that emphasizes shallow flash and broad strokes over the substance.
By definition humor balances all the elements of life, including the serious elements, in all their degrees of gradation. The UW's production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile succeeds at the lighter end of the scale. I would love to see them use the whole tonal range: less farce, more wit, more tragicomedy. Comedy is funny but humor, too, can be funny - and in hands as gifted as these, even funnier than slapdash comedy.
Through May 29 // Penthouse Theatre at University of Washington // Tickets $10-17 available here
