At the risk of sounding like a redundant self-improvement cassette, the old adage is true: You get out what you put in. In Yasmina Reza's play Art, the purchase of a dubious piece of modern art causes three friends to reevaluate the strength of their friendships. Through their argumentative dialogues, it becomes evident that these friends have been expecting to "get out" much more than they have been "putting in."
The most prevalent themes of the play, which showed last weekend at MICA's Brown Center, are those of happiness and friendship. The characters in Art are three middle-aged men living in Paris, all of whom experience anxiety about the current states of their unstable lives. Serge (Peter Wray) is a divorced dermatologist who seeks self-affirmation by purchasing a $200,000 blank white painting. Marc (Steven Satta) is an aeronautical engineer with a tendency to pop homeopathic pills from an Altoid box. Yvan (Dana Whipkey) is a charismatic, nervous man in the stationary business who is about to be married for the first time.
In the exploration of happiness, it is the initial reactions of Marc and Yvan that set the stage for discussion. While Marc claims that the painting is "a piece of shit," Yvan is more forgiving, saying "if it makes [Serge] happy, than I don't see any problem with it." These reactions display the differing personalities of Marc and Yvan as well as their level of aggressiveness. Throughout the play, Marc is much quicker to attack Serge and his purchase of the painting than Yvan, who maintains a much more neutral, carefree attitude.
Minutes before the most explosive conversation of the play, Yvan's mother raises a wonderful point about happiness. During a conversation with his mother about his fianc??, Yvan's mother asserts, "You're either happy or you're not." This idea underlines the incessant quibbling of the three grown men, insinuating that their criticisms of each other originate from a deeper uneasiness with themselves.
This idea of unhappiness lends itself to a discussion of interpersonal relationships in a heated discussion between the three friends. In Serge's apartment, Serge and Marc are waiting for Yvan so that the three might go out to dinner together. The conflict begins when Marc discusses how annoyed he is with Serge's level of condescension as he suggests that Marc read a book because it is "incredibly modern." Serge, in response, questions Marc's insistence on judging his art purchase.
At this heated moment, poor Yvan enters. Yvan is pitted between the two men, who demand his opinion of the painting. When Yvan claims that the (almost undetectable) lines of grey and yellow "move him," he is immediately attacked by Mark and defended by Serge.
In the quick-witted arguing of the three men, it becomes clear that there is a thick and important back story. Each man begins to define the other by the painting displayed in his house. Marc refers to Yvan's "motel painting," as Serge makes a biting remark about Marc's preference for unfeeling Flemish works. What began as a criticism of the white painting gives way to a broader criticism of each other.
In a poignant moment of distress, Serge reveals his dislike for Marc's wife, Paula. "Maybe it's the way she waves away cigarette smoke," Serge argues, almost delirious in his frustration.
As the discussion elevates to a climax, Serge makes a sensitive decision. With a simple action, he proves to Marc that their relationship is more important to him than an expensive painting. From that point, the two friends decide to consciously work on their friendship.
Although it is unrealistic that three middle-aged men would discuss their relationship in such strange terms, and with such fervor, the moral of Art is one of great import. Friendships require effort. After all, as Marc questioned at one point of the play, "What kind of friend are you if you don't think your friends are special?"
Art, produced by students of the Maryland Institute College of Art, will be performed on March 5 and 6 at 8 p.m. at Arellano Theatre.
