Picasso at the Lapin Agile Teacher Information Packet

nov 26 - Dec 21

a comedy by

steve martin

O S S P IC A

at the

lapin directed by

LWT 5 0

e l i g a

gordon edelstein

TEACHER INFORMATION PACKET

go r d o n e d e l st e i n artistic director

a comedy by

steve martin

H

J OSHUA BORENS TEI N managing director

O S PICAS le i lapin ag

at the

directed by

gordon edelstein

N O V E M B E R 2 6 – de cember 2 1 2 0 1 4 on th e c lai re tow stag e in t he c. newton sc h en c k II th eatre

T e a c h e r I n f o r m a ti o n P a c k e t Compiled and Written by m al l o r y pel l egrino Education Programs Manager kr istia n n a smit h Interim Principal Teaching Artist ba r bar a so nens tein Resident Teaching Artist el izabeth nearing Literary Manager

Teacher Information Packet Layout by claire zoghb

LONG W HARF T HEA T RE GRA T EF U LLY ACKNO W LEDGES T HE GENEROS I T Y OF O U R ED U CA T I ON S U P P OR T ERS ANNA FITCH ARDENGHI TRUST ELIZABETH CARSE FOUNDATION Frederick A. Deluca Foundation the hearst foundations elaine gorbach levine charitable foundation THE GEORGE A. & GRACE L. LONG FOUNDATION the seymour l. lustman memorial fund national corporate theatre fund The Seedlings Foundation wells fargo foundation The Werth Family Foundation FOUNDING SUPPORTER OF LONG WHARF THEATRE’S VIDEO STUDY GUIDE AND SUPPORTER OF THE EDUCATORS’ LABORATORY PRODUCTION SPONSOR

50TH SEASON COMMUNITY PARTNER

go r d o n e d e l st e i n artistic director

H

J OSHUA BORENS TEI N managing director

In association with Jonathan Reinis Productions and Stephen Eich PRESENT

PICASSO BY

AT THE

LAPIN AGILE

STEVE MARTIN

directed BY

gordon edelstein

Set Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design HAIR AND wig Designer

dialect designer movement consultant

Production Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Casting By

Michael Yeargan° Jess Goldstein° Donald Holder° David Budries° leah loukas amy stoller tim acito Rebecca c. Monroe* Amy Patricia Stern* Calleri Casting

The World Premiere of PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE was presented at the Steppenwolf Theatre Chicago 1993 Randall Arney Stephen Eich Artistic Director Managing Director PRODUCTION SPONSOR

This production was made possible, in part, through the support of the following: Bette Cerf Hill, Alva Greenberg, James Gunderson, Stephen Hendel, Melvin Honowitz, Bonnie Levinson, Bruce Sagan, Ted Weiant

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States ° Member of United Scenic Artists, USA-829 of the IATSE This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League Of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

contents ABO U T T HE P LAY Characters 8 Setting 10 Synopsis 12 A Brief Biography of Steve Martin 14 Comedy 17 Glossary 19

T HE W ORLD OF T HE P LAY Paris, 1904: The Montmartre DIstrict 23 Picasso’s Life and Art 24 Einstein’s Life and Science 25 Elvis Presley (A Brief Glance) 28 History Timeline 29

Supp l e m e n t a l M a t e r i a l s Themes 33 Curriculum Connections 36 For the First-Time Theatregoer 37

Look for this symbol to find discussion and writing prompts, questions and classroom activities!

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.

– Albert Einstein

ABOUT THE PLAY

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C H A R A CTE R S

FREDDY The owner and bartender of the Lapin Agile

GASTON An older man

GERMAINE Waitress and Freddy’s girlfriend

ALBERT EINSTEIN A scientist and theorist, age twenty-five

SUZANNE A nineteen year old woman (former lover of Picasso)

SAGOT Picasso’s art dealer

The Countess Einstein’s lady friend A female admirer of Schmendiman

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PABLO PICASSO Painter, age twenty-three

Charles Dabernow Schmendiman A young man who wants to leave his mark on history

A VISITOR from the future

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Hypothesize: Most characters in Picasso at the Lapin Agile are based on real people; most famously Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein. Based on what you know about these historical figures, make a list of character traits you think they will have. How do you think their age will affect these traits?

Will they be the geniuses we know them to be yet? What do you expect their relationship to be?

Invent: Many people have said this play begins with the joke: “Picasso and Einstein walk into a bar…” Using your hypotheses from the above question as a basis, create your own small scene (1-2 pages in length) where Picasso and Einstein meet in a bar (you may choose the Lapin Agile or a modern day bar, but make sure you write the rest of your scene accordingly). What would they talk about? Perform the scene for you class.

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SETT I N G

THE LAPIN AGILE: PARIS, FRANCE, 1904

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hile the meeting between Picasso and Einstein in this play is imaginary, the Lapin Agile is a very real place. French for nimble rabbit, its name references a Toussaint painting. At the heart of the Montmartre district of Paris, the Lapin Agile was a hang-out for poor artists, musicians, and intellectuals—all unknown at the time—in the early 1900s. Picasso, Braque, and Modigliani were among those drawn by Frédé’s cello and guitar, drinking, arguing, falling in love, and gestating artistic ideas.

of both personal and artistic growth. “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast,” wrote Ernest Hemingway decades later.

Picasso himself chronicled a moment at the bar in a 1905 painting entitled “At the Lapin Agile.” Picasso depicted himself as a melancholy harlequin, with a local siren named Germaine standing alongside him.

Frédé, the owner of the bar, sits in the background strumming a guitar, ostensibly keeping an eye on the proceedings. Picasso gifted the painting to the cabaret, where it remained until Frédé sold the painting

This early group of artists inspired a wave of expatriots to seek out the splendors of Paris as a place

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in 1912 for $20. In 1989, “At the Lapin Agile” was auctioned at Sotheby’s for $41 million!

SOURCES: au-lapin-agile.com longwharf.org/blog

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Steve Martin picked the Lapin Agile because of its rich history and the possibility for the setting to house many different types of people. The variety of personalities in Picasso at the Lapin Agile is what creates the humor in the show. Can you think of a modern day setting that hosts drastically different types of people? Use the following steps to write your own comedic scene.

• Setting: What environment houses different people of drastically different beliefs where they all feel safe to be themselves?

• Characters: What characters can be found in that setting?

• Conflict: What differs in the beliefs of your characters? For example: Picasso believes that visual art is superior to intellectual genius.

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S Y NO P S I S

T

he Lapin Agile, Paris, 1904. Inside the small bar, bartender Freddy is getting ready for the evening and an older man enters singing “Ta Rah Rah Boom Dee Ay.” The old man, Gaston is a regular at the bar and, just as he sits to order a drink, he has to use the restroom. Gaston moves towards the facilities as a young man enters. The young man tells Freddy he has told a woman he will meet her at 6 o’clock at the Bar Rouge. Freddy explains that this bar is the Lapin Agile. The young man finds this inconsequential and explains that as a theorist there is no real difference between which bar he says he will meet the woman at and which bar he actually waits for her. Gaston returns and the three men discuss the woman that the young man is waiting for. The young man introduces himself as Albert Einstein. This is deeply concerning to Freddy who explains that Einstein is listed fourth in order of appearance, yet he has come onstage third. Einstein, equally troubled by this realization, hides in the bathroom. The third to enter is Germaine, the waitress of the bar and Freddy’s girlfriend. Freddy and Germaine begin an argument about Germaine’s tardiness, which she quickly defuses with flattery. Einstein reenters, now being in the correct order, and asks for a drink.

quickly exhaust Germaine. Freddy continues to ask for help on his bookkeeping. Instead of writing the exact date on the books, Einstein suggests putting, “first decade of the twentieth century.” This sends the group into a moment of awe where each tries to predict the future of the century as a whole.

An older man enters the bar; his name is Sagot, a well known art dealer. In his hand he holds a brand new painting by Matisse. He explains what makes art great and how he is talented at distinguishing good from bad. Suzanne shows Sagot a small etching that Picasso had drawn for her. Instantly intrigued, Sagot asks if the artist will be at the bar tonight, and Suzanne says that he will. Sagot decides to sit and wait for Picasso. After all of the discussion about Picasso, the room decides to toast to him. As they do, Picasso walks into the bar.

Picasso confesses that he has been thinking about sex all day, and as a result has made many pieces about women. Picasso spots Suzanne and approaches her. To her dismay and his misfortune, Picasso does not remember his earlier trysts with Suzanne. She denies his advances. Suzanne sells her Picasso drawing to Sagot. Picasso buys back the original drawing with another and offers Suzanne’s drawing back to her in an attempt to win her favor.

It succeeds in warming her enough so she stays at the bar. Sagot notes that tonight is a memorable occasion and leaves to fetch his camera to capture the evening in a photograph.

A young woman, Suzanne, flies into the bar asking if Picasso frequents the establishment. Freddy explains that he does, and the young woman stays.

She explains the two romantic encounters that she had with Picasso and how she is eager to see him again. Freddy asks a simple math question, which Einstein answers with ease. Impressed, Freddy continuously asks more challenging questions, which Einstein answers simply and quickly. Einstein then reveals that he is writing a book about “everything.”

Germaine, being a romantic novelist herself, tries to question Einstein about the book in order to help him market his material. Einstein’s vague answers

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hile he is gone, Picasso and Einstein argue about the beauty of Picasso’s drawings versus Einstein’s formulas. At the same time, Freddy and Germaine debate whether Germaine’s writing is post-romanticism or neo-romanticism. The group

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T

calms after Freddy tells a horrible joke, which he does not understand. Einstein painstakingly explains the joke. As Einstein laughs at his own wit, Picasso is successful in seducing Suzanne once again and agrees to meet her later on that evening. She leaves.

Upon her exit, a self-proclaimed “talent” enters the bar: Chalres Dabernow Schmendiman. Schmendiman explains he has changed the world with his inflexible building material. He tells the group the difference between talent and genius. “Talent is the ability to say things well, but genius is the ability to, well, say things! Talent sells a million in a year, but genius sells five thousand a year for two hundred years!”

he Countess, the woman Einstein has been waiting for, enters, and the two leave arm and arm. Freddy goes next door to handle business for the end of the night, and Gaston goes to relieve himself. Germaine and Picasso, being alone for the first time, embrace and kiss, revealing an affair they have been having for some time. Germaine explains that Freddy is as close as she can get to the type of man she truly wants, that Picasso is nothing but a fling to her. What she really wants is a country boy. Freddy and Gaston reenter, discovering nothing, and a mysterious Visitor in blue suede shoes appears. The Visitor describes himself as a country boy and Germaine is instantly taken. Einstein and the Countess reenter, as well as Sagot who has returned with a camera. The group poses for a picture. Schmendiman arrives just in time to photo bomb the group and tell the group to say “Cheese” to ensure they all smile. The Visitor delivers a message to Picasso. The message is the inspiration for the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. The roof to the bar disappears and the groups sees the stars illuminate the sky. The bar toasts to the twentieth century as the lights fade.

Before he leaves Schmendiman tries to impart his wisdom to both Picasso and Einstein, then has a brilliant idea for a dunce cap and leaves. Einstein mistakenly blurts out his Theory of General Relativity. At that exact moment, Picasso is hit with an idea to paint. Gaston explains that he himself is exhausted at the idea of being creative. Picasso and Einstein both explain what having an idea is like for them. As they explain in tandem, they realize that they are more alike one another than they originally thought and embrace as brothers.

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m This play takes place at the beginning of the 20th century. We are currently living in the beginning of the 21st century. What type of genius do we value as a society now, and how does that differ from then: do we value scientific and artistic genius or are we more concerned about fame and fortune?

What do you believe will happen to the world during this century? What do you hope to personally accomplish? Are the two related in any way: will you contribute to the story of the 21st century?

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A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF

STE V E MARTIN

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he multi-talented and extremely successful Steve Martin was born August 14, 1945 in Waco Texas. When he was five, Martin and his family moved to California where he grew up. His father was a real estate salesman and an aspiring actor.

in philosophy changed his thoughts and beliefs, developing a psychology of humor.

Later, Martin transferred to UCLA and switched his major to theater. While attending UCLA, he appeared in an episode of The Dating Game. He began working local clubs at night, to mixed reviews, and, at twenty-one, he dropped out of college.

Martin developed his own taste for performing as a cheerleader at Garden Grove High School and at Disneyland, where he got his first job selling guidebooks. In his free time, he hung out at the Main Street Magic Shop where magic tricks were performed for customers. He soon learned some of the magic tricks and was hired as a magician.

In 1967, Martin started writing for the The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His work grew as he wrote for many of the popular TV shows of the time, and, in 1969, he appeared on The Steve Allen Show, the first of many TV appearances to come. Of one such appearance, Martin says: “I looked grotesque. I had a hairdo like a helmet, which I blow-dried to a puffy bouffant, for reasons I no longer understand. I wore a frock coat and a silk shirt, and my delivery was mannered, slow and self-aware. I had absolutely no authority. After reviewing the show, I was depressed for a week.”

After high school, Martin attended Santa Ana Junior College where he took classes in drama and English poetry. In his free time, he performed in comedies and other productions at the Bird Cage Theatre, and he joined a comedy troupe at Knott’s Berry farm. He continued to develop comedy routines, often with friends.

Martin opened for groups such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Carpenters, doing his comedic routines, and he continued to write, winning an Emmy nomination for his work on Van Dyke and Company in 1976. In the mid-1970s, he made

Martin next attended California State University, Long Beach, majoring in Philosophy. Inspired by his classes, Martin considered becoming a professor instead of an actor-comedian. He said that majoring

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You can see Steve Martin talk about his love of art here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32RNhzLwXmM

frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Saturday Night Live (SNL), and other shows. SNL’s audience rating soared when he made guest appearances.

Story; Grand Canyon; Father of the Bride and its sequel; Housesitter; The Spanish Prisoner; Bowfinger; The-Outof-Towners; Bringing Down the House; Cheaper By the Dozen and its sequel; Shopgirl; The Pink Panther and its sequel; Baby Mama; It’s Complicated; and The Big Year.

In the 1970s, his TV appearances led to the release of comedy albums that went platinum. His albums Let’s Get Small (1977) and A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978) both won Grammys for Best Comedy Recording. A Wild and Crazy Guy reached the No. 2 spot on the U.S. sales chart, selling over a million copies and the saying «Just a wild and crazy guy» became one of his national catch phrases.

By 2003, Martin ranked fourth on the box office stars list, after starring in Bringing Down The House and Cheaper By The Dozen, each of which earned over $130 million at U.S. theaters. The two Pink Panther moves grossed over $230 million at the box office. In 2009, The Guardian listed Martin as one of the best actors never to receive an Oscar nomination.

At this time, Martin had developed a huge following and was performing stand-up for sold-out stadiums, but his real ambition was film. At the height of his stand-up popularity, he transformed into this new area of performance. His first substantial film appearance was in a short titled The Absent-Minded Waiter (1977), written by and starring Martin. The film was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Film, Live Action.

In his first substantial feature film appearance he sang The Beatles’ “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” in the musical Sgt. Pepper›s Lonely Hearts Club Band. In 1979, Martin co-wrote and starred in the comedy The Jerk, which grossed over $100 million, and launched his film career.

In 1988, Martin appeared as Vladimir in a revival of Waiting for Godot at Lincoln Center with Robin Williams as Estragon. He has also hosted or cohosted the Academy Awards three times, and, in 2005, he cohosted Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years.

While performing, Martin has continued to write for film, theatre, literature, and other forms. His film writing included Roxanne (an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac which won him a Writers Guild of America, East award), LA Story and Bowfinger—all of which he also starred in– and he co-wrote and produced the spy thriller film Traitor. He wrote his first full length play Picasso at the Lapin Agile in 1993. The first reading of the play took place at his home with Tom Hanks reading the title role. The play opened in Chicago and went on to run successfully in Los Angeles, New York City and several other US cities. In 2002, he adapted

Other notable movies Martin has appeared in include: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid; The Man with Two Brains; All of Me; ¡Three Amigos!; Little Shop of Horrors; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Roxanne; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Parenthood; My Blue Heaven; L.A.

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BIOGRAPHY

continued

into his comedy routines and songs. He has released an album and tours throughout the country with Steep Canyon Rangers and Edie Brickell.

the Carl Sternheim play The Underpants, which ran Off Broadway at Classic Stage Company. He wrote the novellas Shopgirl (2000), which was made into a feature film, and The Pleasure of My Company (2003).

In 2007, he published a memoir, Born Standing Up, which Time magazine ranked as number six on the list of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007. In 2010, he published the novel An Object of Beauty.

When asked if there was a grand plan to his lateblooming music career, he responded, “Absolutely not. It was a total accident. My whole life is an accident!”

While Steve Martin has had an incredibly successful film, television, and comedy career, he also has an extensive collection and deep love of art, which can be seen in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Artistic Director, Gordon Edelstein opened the first rehearsal of the Long Wharf production saying “Everyone should have something that makes them weak in the knees.

What makes Steve Martin weak in the knees is great painting,” Edelstein said. “This is his homage, his celebration of the great art and imagination that bloomed at the beginning of the 20th century.”

Martin’s many awards include an Emmy, multiple Grammys, and A Lifetime Achievement Award from American Comedy Awards. He has also been honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, a Disney Legend Award, and the 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors. He is listed 6th on Comedy Central’s 100 Greatest Stand Up Comics of All Time.

He has also won Grammys and other accolades for his banjo playing, including the 2011 International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainer of the Year.

He took up banjo playing at 17 and initially worked it

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Do you know who Steve Martin is? How? What have you seen him in?

Knowing what you do about Steve Martin, what do you think Picasso at the Lapin Agile will be like?

What makes you go weak in the knees? How do you honor that thing (do you write about it, talk about it, collect it, etc)?

Sources: Steve Martin: The Magic Years By Morris W. Walker Born Standing Up By Steve Martin http://www.aceshowbiz.com/celebrity/steve_martin/biography.html http://www.talktalk.co.uk/entertainment/film/biography/artist/steve-martin/biography/118 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000188/ http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/40968/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/funny-martin-200802.html##ixzz0wdmDQ0Bs http://www.believermag.com/issues/200505/?read=interview_martin http://wp.me/pGVzJ-lw

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STE V E M A R T I N ’ S COMED Y Every comedian has their own style of comedy.

Some comment on the larger social norms of life, some on the minute details of everyday life. Most comedy follows the Rule of Three. “ Sometimes called trebling, the Rule of Three is a pattern used in stories and jokes, where part of the story is told three times, with minor variations.The first two instances build tension, and the third releases it by incorporating a twist.”

“Rule of Three” by TV Tropes The two clips below show Steve Martin using the Rule of Three in a joke he has often repeated for interviews with talk show hosts.

• Steve Martin on the Johnny Carson Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEGbC1GHNk4 • Steve Martin on the Conan O’Brien Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttj5Nqof7Vw In the above joke Steve Martin perfectly demonstrates the Rule of Three. Creating a pattern and then breaking it. His repetition of the same joke for over 20 years emphasizes a larger pattern so that through time the joke continues to increase in hilarity.

However, classic humor is not what Martin is known for, nor what he explores in his writing of Picasso at the Lapin Agile. In his autobiography, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life, Steve Martin talks about his early life and the start of his comedic career. In college, he began taking philosophy classes which changed his thinking of the classic Rule of Three approach to comedy.

“ What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience do with all that tension?

Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation.This type of laugh seemed stronger to me, as they would be laughing at something they chose, rather than being told exactly when to laugh.”

Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life

This idea led to the style of work found in the movies The Jerk, Roxanne and in the play Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

The action of the play is constant so there are few obvious breaks to stop and laugh. Jokes are interspersed throughout the show, so that the resolution of the joke happens long after the set up. In the play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Martin explores many of the “don’ts” of comedic writing. While his is a pattern that breaks the mold, Steve Martin’s humor has been popular for a career spanning over 30 years.

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COMED Y

continued

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m The following video is a discussion with Peter McGraw a professor of Marketing and Psychology who in 2008 started the Humor Research Lab, conducting research on what makes things funny. Using Peter McGraw’s theory, can you explain why the Rule of Three is effective in making something funny?

TEDxBoulder- Peter McGraw What Makes Things Funny: A scientific exploration into a theory of what makes things funny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysSgG5V-R3U

SOURCES http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfThree https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3315115-born-standing-up-a-comic-s-life

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gl o s s ary Ta rah rah Boom dee ay: An American vaudeville and music hall song (accompanied by a lusty or frenetic dance) popularized in France in 1892.

by society: the poor, the sick, beggars and prostitutes.

The paintings in this period were commercially unsuccessful, and Picasso lived in poverty.

Absinthe: A highly alcoholic (90-148 U.S. Proof) anise-flavored spirit that traditionally has a natural green color. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as “la fée verte” (the green fairy). Absinthe became so popular in bars, bistros, cafés, and cabarets that, by the 1860s, the hour of 5 p.m. was called l’heure verte (“the green hour”). Absinthe was favored by all social classes, from the wealthy bourgeoisie, to poor artists and ordinary working-class people.

Raphael: An Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance (1438-1520) in Italy. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Many of Raphael’s work can be found in the Vatican.

Manifesto: A public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.

The General Theory of Relativity: The geometric theory of gravitation. It postulated that all things, including light, have mass. It redefined gravity and the affects that large masses have on space and time.

The Critique of Pure Reason: Written by Immanuel Kant in 1781, one of the most influential and important historic philosophical papers ever written. It is considered a work of genius.

Max Planck: A German physicist, credited with establishing the theory of quantum physics. Planck was among the few who immediately recognized the significance of Einstein’s 1905 Special Theory of Relativity, and he used his influence in the world of theoretical physics to ensure that the theory was soon widely accepted in Germany.

Matisse: A French artist (1869 –1954), known for his use of color and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. Along with Picasso and Marcel DuChamps, Matisse is considered one of the pioneering modern artists of the 20th century. In 1905, Matisse and a group of artists became known as the “Fauves” (The Wild Beasts). The paintings they exhibited at the Salon in Paris were expressive, often without regard for natural colors of the subject.

Matisse’s work in particular contained aggressive

LA VIE by PICASSO Blue Period: Picasso’s Blue Period, 1901-1904, refers to a time when Picasso’s depression (blue feelings) spurred him to paint in blue tones. In his Blue Period, Picasso painted the miserable lives of people shunned

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G L OSS A R Y

continued

Courbet: Jean Desire Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a French painter, who led the Realist movement nineteenth century French painting. He “challenged convention by rendering scenes from daily life.”

Courbet paved the way for Impressionism and Modernism.

Titian: Tiziano Vecellio (1488–1576), known as Titian, was the greatest Venetian artist of the sixteenth century. Titian is known above all for his remarkable use of color; his painterly approach was highly influential well into the seventeenth century. Titian contributed to all of the major areas of Renaissance art, painting altarpieces, portraits, mythologies, and pastoral landscapes with figures.

brush strokes and bold primary colors. Matisse was brought to sudden fame in 1905 when his “Woman with the Hat” was purchased by American writer Gertrude Stein.

Goya: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746– 1828) is regarded as the most important Spanish artist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Over the course of his long career, Goya moved from jolly and lighthearted to deeply pessimistic and searching in his paintings, drawings, etchings, and frescoes. Goya is “regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns.”

Apollinaire: A French poet (1880 – 1918), he is considered one of the foremost poets of the early 20th century, as well as one of the forefathers of surrealism. He is credited with coining the word “surrealism”.

Kafka: Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. “A kafkaesque experience is one in which a person feels trapped by forces that seem simultaneously ridiculous, threatening, incomprehensible, and dangerous.”

Kafka’s work famously criticized modernity for its dehumanizing qualities.

Surrealism: A twentieth century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind. Artists like Miro, Dali, Ernst, Ray were surrealists who all played with the irrational juxtaposition of images.

The aim was to “resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality.”

Velazquez: “Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, (1599-1660), a Spanish painter of the Baroque school, and the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He is the most admired—perhaps the greatest—European painter who ever lived, possessed a miraculous gift for conveying a sense of truth. He gave the best of his talents to painting portraits, which capture the appearance of reality through the seemingly effortless handling of sensuous paint.”

Post-Romanticism: An offshoot of Romanticism rather than a reaction against it. It concentrated on the formal elements of the Romantic period’s aesthetic “art for art’s sake.” Its most illustrious representative was Baudelaire who believed that “everything that is not art is ugly and useless.”

Neo-Romanticism: A movement from about 1850 until 1890. The start of the era of modernism, the term has been applied to artists who rejected, abandoned, or opposed realism, naturalism, or avant-garde modernism.

Madame Curie: (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) A Polish and French physicist and chemist who

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conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person (and only woman) to win twice, and the only person to win twice in multiple sciences.

Sir Peter Paul Rubens: A Flemish painter, and a proponent of an extravagant 17th century Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality. He is well known for his CounterReformation (Catholic revival) altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

Greco was both the quintessential Spaniard and a proto-modern—a painter of the spirit...and someone whose art stood as a rejection of the materialist culture of modern life.”

Michaelangelo Buonarotti: (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564) Commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western Art. Michelangelo was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and ever since then he has been held to be one of the greatest artists of all time. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before he turned thirty.

Newton: Isaac Newton (1643- 1727) is considered one of the most important scientists in history.

Even Albert Einstein said that Isaac Newton was the smartest person that ever lived. During his lifetime Newton developed the theory of gravity, the laws of motion (which became the basis for physics), a new type of mathematics called calculus, and made breakthroughs in the area of optics such as the reflecting telescope.”

El Greco: Domenikos Theotokopoulos (1541–1614), nicknamed “The Greek” for his Greek roots, was a painter of the Spanish Renaissance. “For Picasso, El

SOURCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/PU/pine2_fig1.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7112/7541306404_e8ee04f04b_z.jpg http://www.geocities.ws/cyberdramaturg/picasso/lapin.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta-ra-ra_Boom-de-ay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe http://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/scientists_planck.html http://makingartfun.com/images/woman-with-a-hat.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Apollinaire http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/343624/Western-literature/15357/Post-Romanticism http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gust/hd_gust.htm http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tita/hd_tita.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Goya http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/goya/hd_goya.htm Cunningham, Lawrence. Culture and Values: A Survey of the Western Humanities. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1990. Print. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vela/hd_vela.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grec/hd_grec.htm http://www.ducksters.com/biography/scientists/isaac_newton.php

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WORLD OF THE PLAY 22

pari s , 1 9 0 4

t h e m o n t m ar t r e d i s t ri c t

by Elizabeth Nearing Long Wharf Theatre Literary Manager

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t the dawn of the twentieth century, retired folk of Batignolles, sprouting up all over the Paris was the perfect environment to place, like weeds. Montmartre was home to every cultivate genius. An ideal confluence of kind of artist.” Montmartre’s inhabitants included political, economic and cultural events Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouseled to this fruitful era, referred to by some as La Lautrec, Salvador Dali, Claude Monet, Vincent Belle Époque. Peace and optimism had prevailed Van Gogh, Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, Le since the foundation of France’s third republic in Corbusier, Django Reinhardt and many more. These 1870 and lasted until 1914 at the start of World many artists could be found hanging out at local War I. Paris hosted the lavish World’s Fair (or cabarets such as Le Moulin Rouge, Le Chat Noir, Exposition Universelle) in and Au Lapin Agile. People of all both 1889 and 1900. It was a classes drank together, shared time of growing consumerism, ideas and created art at these The ideas cultivated in vast industrialization, social clubs and cafés.

Montmartre between 1870 decadence and aestheticism. and 1914 were a part of a Standards of living were rapidly The Lapin Agile was at the heart great revolution of classical improving for all classes. of Montmartre and Picasso was Throughout this period, artists, a known regular. The bar was thinking that began as philosophers, scientists and run by Frederic Gerard (who avant-garde and grew to be creators of all kinds came to went by “Frédé”). Journalist integral to pop culture in the Paris from all over Europe Jean-Paul Crespelle said “There twentieth century. and America to both explore was a little for everyone, a and challenge classical art and veritable enchantment of science. Their discussions and Parisian avant-garde society: collaborations gave birth to modern art and the great employees, petites bourgeois, kept women and ideas of the twentieth century. their lovers, pretentious young ladies looking for an evening of adventure.”

In the northern part of the city, one neighborhood in particular attracted these young liberal minds.

The philosophical discoveries and artistic Montmartre became the hub for café culture, explorations of La Belle Époque inspired the abundant cabarets and salons. In 1882, Félicien Champsaur innovations of the twentieth century. The ideas wrote, “In this bizarre land swarmed a host of cultivated in Montmartre between 1870 and 1914 colorful artists, writers, painters, musicians, sculptors, were a part of a great revolution of classical thinking architects, a few with their own places but most in that began as avant-garde and grew to be integral to furnished lodgings, surrounded by the workers of pop culture in the twentieth century.

Montmartre, the starchy ladies of the rue Bréda, the

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P I C A SSO ’ S L I F E A ND A R T

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them that Picasso met French artist Henri Matisse. Picasso and Matisse competed to be the best artist in the avant-garde art scene with Picasso always coming in second to Matisse.

Despite this rival, they would become lifelong friends.

ablo Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain. He was the first child of Don Jose Ruiz y Blasco, an art teacher, and Maria Picasso y Lopez. At an early age, Pablo showed an interest in drawing. His first words were “piz, piz”, which is short for “lapiz”, the Spanish word for pencil.

In 1907, Picasso painted one of his most important works, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, creating with painter and sculptor Georges Braque the brand new art movement known as “Cubism.” Cubism allowed the artist to show his/ her model from many different viewpoints. In the paintings of earlier times, the artist showed his subject from one particular viewpoint. In cubist paintings, the artist may show the front and the side of a person’s face at the same time.

At the age of 7, Pablo began receiving art instruction from his father. His father believed that an artist’s training should include copying the masters and drawing the human body from plaster casts and live models. The precision of Pablo’s painting technique grew until it soon surpassed that of his father.

In 1895, Pablo’s father accepted a position at Barcelona’s School of Fine Arts. He asked officials to allow his son to take the entrance exam. The officials were impressed with Pablo’s abilities and admitted him to the academy. Pablo was only thirteen years old. As a student, he lacked discipline but made friends and continued to grow as an artist.

Picasso’s friends responded to it with a gamut of passionate responses – from enthusiasm to disgust.

Matisse, in particular, considered it scandalous and a “hideous” degradation of artistic nudes. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon would profoundly influence the direction of art in the 20th century.

At the age of 16, Pablo’s father enrolled him in Spain’s most distinguished art school, Madrid’s Royal Academy of San Fernando. However, his instruction at the Royal Academy lasted only a short time as he was disappointed with the teaching methods and struggled to accept formal instruction. In spite of these difficulties, his time in Madrid was not wasted.

Pablo visited Madrid’s museums and saw the paintings of Diego Velasquez and Francisco Goya, though it was the works of El Greco that he admired most.

Pablo Picasso died on April 8, 1973 in Mougins, France at the age of 91. He is best remembered as the co-founder of Cubism, and for Cubist works Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), Three Musicians (1921) and Guernica (1937). As a young boy, Pablo Picasso was a prodigy whose skills became an expressive power that profoundly affected the art of the twentieth century.

In 1900, Picasso made his first trip to Paris and lived the life of a struggling artist. He was extremely poor, suffered from hunger, and in fact he had to burn many of his own canvases to keep warm on a winter’s night. At that time Paris was considered to be the art capital of Europe. While in Paris, Picasso’s work began to attract the attention of art collectors.

By 1905, Picasso had become a favorite of American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein. It was through

SOURCES A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy, 1881-1906, John Richardson, Knopf, 2007 http://makingartfun.com/htm/f-maf-art-library/ pablo-picasso-biography.htm Masters of Art PICASSO, Stefano Loria, Peter Bedrick Books, 1995

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E I NSTE I N ’ S L I F E A ND SC I ENCE read: “Lights All Askew In The Heavens/Men Of Science More Or Less Agog Over Results Of Eclipse Observations/Einstein Theory Triumphs.” The planet was exhausted from World War I, eager for some sign of humankind’s nobility, and suddenly here was a modest scientific genius, seemingly interested only in pure intellectual pursuits.

Relativity and the Cosmos By Alan Lightman, Posted 09.09.97 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/relativity-and-thecosmos.html

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n November of 1919, at the age of 40, Albert Einstein became an overnight celebrity, thanks to a solar eclipse. An experiment had confirmed that light rays from distant stars were deflected by the gravity of the sun in just the amount he had predicted in his theory of gravity, general relativity. General relativity was the first major new theory of gravity since Isaac Newton’s more than 250 years earlier.

THE ESSENCE OF GRAVITY What was general relativity? Einstein’s earlier theory of time and space, special relativity, proposed that distance and time are not absolute. The ticking rate of a clock depends on the motion of the observer of that clock; likewise for the length of a “yardstick.”

Published in 1915, general relativity proposed that gravity, as well as motion, can affect the intervals of time and of space. The key idea of general relativity, called the equivalence principle, is that gravity pulling in one direction is completely equivalent to an acceleration in the opposite direction. A car accelerating forwards feels just like sideways gravity pushing you back against your seat. An elevator accelerating upwards feels just like gravity pushing you into the floor.

Einstein became a hero, and the myth-building began. Headlines appeared in newspapers all over the world. On November 8, 1919, for example, the London Times had an article headlined: «The Revolution In Science/Einstein Versus Newton.» Two days later, The New York Times’ headlines

If gravity is equivalent to acceleration, and if motion affects measurements of time and space (as shown in special relativity), then it follows that gravity does so as well. In particular, the gravity of any mass, such as our sun, has the effect of warping the space and time around it. For example, the angles of a triangle no longer add up to 180 degrees, and clocks tick more slowly the closer they are to a gravitational mass like the sun.

Many of the predictions of general relativity, such as the bending of starlight by gravity and a tiny shift in the orbit of the planet Mercury, have been quantitatively confirmed by experiment. Two

EINSTEIN AS A YOUNG PATENT CLERK

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einstein

continued

of the strangest predictions, impossible ever to completely confirm, are the existence of black holes and the effect of gravity on the universe as a whole (cosmology).

X-1, about 7,000 light-years from Earth. (A light-year, the distance light travels in a year, is about six trillion miles.) Cygnus X-1 was found in 1970. Since then, a dozen excellent black hole candidates have been identified. Many astronomers and astrophysicists believe that massive black holes, with sizes up to 10 million times that of our sun, inhabit the centers of energetic galaxies and quasars and are responsible for their enormous energy release. Ironically, Einstein himself did not believe in the existence of black holes, even though they were predicted by his theory.

COLLAPSED STARS A black hole is a region of space whose attractive gravitational force is so intense that no matter, light, or communication of any kind can escape. A black hole would thus appear black from the outside.

(However, gas around a black hole can be very bright.) It is believed that black holes form from the collapse of stars. As long as they are emitting heat and light into space, stars are able to support themselves against their own inward gravity with the outward pressure generated by heat from nuclear reactions in their deep interiors.

THE START OF EVERYTHING Beginning in 1917, Einstein and others applied general relativity to the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. The leading cosmological theory, called the Big Bang theory, was formulated in 1922 by the Russian mathematician and meteorologist Alexander Friedmann. Friedmann began with Einstein’s equations of general relativity and found a solution to those equations in which the universe began in a state of extremely high density and temperature (the so-called Big Bang) and then expanded in time, thinning out and cooling as it did so. One of the most stunning successes of the Big Bang theory is the prediction that the universe is approximately 10 billion years old, a result obtained from the rate at which distant galaxies are flying away from each other. This prediction accords with the age of the universe as obtained from very local methods, such as the dating of radioactive rocks on Earth.

Every star, however, must eventually exhaust its nuclear fuel. When it does so, its unbalanced self-gravitational attraction causes it to collapse.

According to theory, if a burned-out star has a mass larger than about three times the mass of our sun, no amount of additional pressure can stave off total gravitational collapse. The star collapses to form a black hole. For a nonrotating collapsed star, the size of the resulting black hole is proportional to the mass of the parent star; a black hole with a mass three times that of our sun would have a diameter of about 10 miles.

The possibility that stars could collapse to form black holes was first theoretically “discovered” in 1939

by J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hartland Snyder, who were manipulating the equations of Einstein’s general relativity. The first black hole believed to be discovered in the physical world, as opposed to the mathematical world of pencil and paper, was Cygnus

According to the Big Bang theory, the universe may keep expanding forever, if its inward gravity is not sufficiently strong to counterbalance the outward motion of galaxies, or it may reach a maximum point

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of expansion and then start collapsing, growing denser and denser, gradually disrupting galaxies, stars, planets, people, and eventually even individual atoms.

Which of these two fates awaits our universe can be determined by measuring the density of matter versus the rate of expansion. Much of modern cosmology, including the construction of giant new telescopes such as the new Keck telescope in Hawaii, has been an attempt to measure these two numbers with better and better accuracy. With the present accuracy of measurement, the numbers suggest that our universe will keep expanding forever, growing colder and colder, thinner and thinner.

General relativity may be the biggest leap of the scientific imagination in history.

Unlike many previous scientific breakthroughs, such as the principle of natural selection, or the discovery of the physical existence of atoms, general relativity had little foundation upon the theories or experiments of the time. No one except Einstein was thinking of gravity as equivalent to acceleration, as a geometrical phenomenon, as a bending of time and space. Although it is impossible to know, many physicists believe that without Einstein, it could have been another few decades or more before another physicist worked out the concepts and mathematics of general relativity.

SOURCES http://whyfiles.org/2011/the-importance-of-being-einstein/ http://theweek.com/article/index/225837/einsteins-personal-papers-6-human-revelations

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e lvi s pr e s l e y ( a bri e f gla n c e )

PRISCILLA, LISA MARIE AND ELVIS PRESLEY LEFT: THE YOUNG ELVIS

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n Picasso at the Lapin Agile, a Visitor from the future shows up at the Lapin Agile. He is described as “a singer from the fifties, age twentyfive. He wears blue suede shows and has jet black hair.” This man from Memphis makes the women in the bar go weak in the knees and helps Picasso see the greatness in his future. While his name is never used, the audience knows that this messenger is none other than Elvis Presley.

Biography gives us a glimpse at Elvis: “Born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Presley came from very humble beginnings and grew up to become one of the biggest names in rock ‘n’ roll. By the mid-1950s, he appeared on the radio, television and the silver screen. On August 16, 1977, at age 42, he died of heart failure, which was related to his drug addiction. Since his death, Presley has remained one of the world’s most popular music icons.”

It’s hard to summarize “The King” in a few sentences.

Elvis Presley’s fame made him more than a man; it made him a legend, and legends never die.

Steve Martin Talks About Meeting Elvis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPfGfPkEupE

SOURCE: http://www.biography.com/people/elvis-presley-9446466#synopsis http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/pictures/photos_elvis_priscilla_lisa_marie.html#sthash.3yxTe1E0.dpbs

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H I STO R Y T I ME L I NE 1870: Franco-Prussian War breaks out leading to the fall of Napoleon III and the establishment of the Third Republic.

1874: First exhibit of Impressionist painting in Paris (Monet, Degas, Renoir, and more) 1879: Albert Einstein Born in Ulm, Germany.

1881: Pablo Ruiz Picasso born in Málaga, Spain Edgar Degas’s The Little Dancer 1886: Seurat completes A Sunday on La Grande Jatte 1889: The Exposition Universelle held in Paris, the Eiffel Tower is built 1897: Picasso enters the Academia Real de San Fernando in Madrid

impression, sunrise by claude monet

1900: Einstein graduates from the ETH (the Federal Polytechnic School) in Zurich Picasso leaves for Paris Henri Matisse enrolls in art school in Paris aris metro system opens in conjunction with The P Exposition Universelle 1901: Einstein becomes a Swiss citizen Picasso’s Blue Period begins 1902: Einstein takes a job at the Swiss Patent Office 1903: Picasso begins painting La Vie (pictured in the glossary) 1904: PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE 1905: Einstein publishes five groundbreaking papers, making this his “annus mirabilis” Matisse paints The Woman with the Hat atisse & Picasso first meet, beginning their rivalry & M friendship 1907: Einstein applies the laws of gravity to his theory of relativity.

Picasso begins painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon The Triple Entente signed by France, the UK and Russia Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

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t i m e li n e

continued

1913: Marcel Proust publishes Swann’s Way

The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky premieres

1914: WWI begins 1915: Einstein completes the general theory of relativity.

1916: Picasso begins designing sets and costumes for Parade James Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man published 1918: WWI ends 1919: May 29, a solar eclipse provides proof of the general theory of relativity.

The first Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. Du Bois opens in Paris

1921: Picasso paints Three Musicians and Three Women at the Spring 1922: Einstein awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1921.

1929: Stock market crash spreads economic depression in US and Western Europe 1931: The Persistence of Memory by Dali 1933: Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany THREE MUSICIANS

Einstein flees Nazi Germany for America and begins work at Princeton 1936: Spanish Civil War breaks out 1937: Picasso paints Guernica 1939: Photographs of Picasso in Paris appear in Life magazine Einstein writes to President Franklin Roosevelt warning of the potential atom bomb 1941: Bombing of Pearl Harbor Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane Picasso begins writing Desire Caught by the Tail

EINSTEIN AWARDED NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS

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GUERNICA

1944: Picasso joins Communist Party 1945: Atomic bombs dropped, WWII ends, leading France to establish Fourth Republic 1948: Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire debuts on Broadway 1955: Einstein dies of heart failure on April 18.

1956: Elvis Presley’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show 1958: Fifth Republic established in France under Charles de Gaulle 1973: Picasso dies

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The painter’s studio should be a laboratory.

There one does not make art in the manner of a monkey, one invents.

Painting is a play of the mind.

– Pablo Picasso

S U P P L EMENT A L M A TE R I A L S

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T H EMES What is genius? Genius is having ideas that are so original that it changes the way the entire world thinks. Picasso At The Lapin Agile explores several types of genius.

•

Artistic genius: Picasso represents artistic genius. Picasso is able to see the world in a way that is so novel and unexpected that he helps create a whole new movement in modern art. Picasso rejected the inherited concept that art should copy nature or that artists should adopt the traditional techniques of perspective. Picasso imagines a new way of seeing the world and creates the movement of Cubism.

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Scientific genius: Einstein represents scientific genius. Einstein had advanced intellectual ability and a new way of thinking about the universe that enabled him to create his theory of relativity and other stunning insights that form the foundation of modern physics.

•

•

idea”, the formula or the sketch, science or art, will be the great change agent of the 20th century. With the character of the visitor (a singer, -who does not seem brainy on the surface), Martin pokes at our culture’s fascination with celebrity (and the lack of appreciation for the genius of science and art). The visitor symbolizes that genius is as simple as appealing to the universalthe everyman. All the characters in the play seem to agree that they would give up everything to “sing songs about love.” There is genius in a song that appeals to millions.

There is genius in that which appeals to the heart.

What is the value of Art as a science and Science as an art?

Debate between Picasso and Einstein Focusing on Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avingnon and Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity the play attempts to explain the similarity of the creative process involved in great leaps of imagination in science and art.

Commercial genius: Schmendiman represents commercial genius. He is a young inventor with big dreams but little knowledge. Schmendiman is hard working and believes that his new building material “Schmendimite”(an inflexible and very brittle building material),will change the world.

Schmendiman does not have the intellect or creative genius of Einstein or Picasso but suggests that all you need to secure your place in history is hard work and talent; not necessarily genius.

Picasso has the great idea that you can break down an object and when you reassemble it in an abstract form (Cubism), that you can see an object from multiple perspectives at the same time. Picasso imagines a fourth dimension.

Einstein has the great idea that time is relativethat depending on where you view time from, it is different. A famous Einstein quote that helps explain his theory of relativity: “When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.”

Celebrity or “Being at the right place at the right time”: Genius is not always the product of academic or philosophical understanding or as Gaston refers to it “Brains”. A visitor arrives to settle the dispute between Einstein and Picasso over whose “great

Both in science and in art- both men found new

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themes

continued

perspectives, new ideas, in which to see and experience the world. Both science and art aspire to see the world in new ways- with new perspectives.

attracts a lot of artistic types and they want to know more about what it is that Einstein is writing. Much like their knowledge of Picasso, no one understands that they are talking to a genius when they ask Einstein about his writing. Indeed, they are rather dismissive of Einstein because he “hasn’t yet been published.” Einstein’s ideas are, of course, so big that he has trouble trying to “simplify” his Special Theory of Relativity and the characters at the bar use a patronizing tone suggesting that Einstein make his book funny-”because if it’s funny, you can really sell a lot of books.”

What is Art? In the beginning of the play, the characters at the Lapin Agile debate over Freddy’s painting of sheep that hangs over the bar. The characters have different reactions to the painting. Suzanne finds the painting ordinary. Freddy thinks the painting is beautiful and he has sentimental attachment to it because he obtained the painting from his dying grandmother. Einstein thinks that the painting is about an idea- “the power of the landscape over small things.” Gaston is of the opinion that the painting is simply “Sheep. Meadow. Fog. Period.” – that the painting is literally what you see. Germaine debates that meaning isn’t everything-all paintings mean something-but that doesn’t tell us if the painting is good or bad.

Finally, Sagot, Picasso’s boisterous art dealer will come into the bar and finally help us understand what great art is. Sagot informs us that the sheep painting is ugly and common. Furthermore, common ideas are not artistic ideas and if the sheep painting is not art, then it has no value. Sagot explains how he knows great art. He explains that he knows great art when he identifies with it. Sagot can sell the great art he finds because once he has experienced a painting, it is with him forever. Art is about the experience. Art helps us to understand what it means to be human. Once you experience art, it stays with you forever.

This debate suggests that art is more than the subject, the meaning or even people’s opinion.

Another example, questioning the nature of art, is the debate over the Picasso drawing that Suzanne brings into the Lapin Agile. We, as the audience, know that Picasso is and will be regarded as a great genius. The play, however, takes place in 1904, before Picasso became widely regarded as an artistic genius. When Suzanne shows the characters at the bar the drawing, the responses are varied. Suzanne wants the drawing to be her. Einstein does not think the drawing matters. Freddy is not impressed.

Gaston doesn’t understand the drawing. Germaine likes it very much. Do the opinions of these people at the bar matter? Would the characters know genius if they saw it? Is it opinion that validates a great work of art? Afterall, many great artists were not appreciated in their own time. Germaine and Freddy explain to Einstein that the Lapin Agile

The FUTURE - is the future better?

If Art and Science are the change agents for the 20th century, what will be the change agents for the twenty first century?

At the start of the play, the 19th century is coming to a close and a new 20th century is just beginning.

Both Picasso and Einstein are raring to go, but they are not sure where they are going and if their ideas will ever get recognition. Will the future be full of hope and promise or full of despair? Einstein and Picasso’s work both suggest that whether or not the future holds hope or despair will largely depend on the perspective of the individual. Just as Picasso

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and Einstein find new ways of seeing their world-we too need to find creative ways to make our world a better place. What future world will we create for ourselves? We are the change agent of the future!

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m If you had to write a play about three historical figures that find themselves in the same place and time-which three historical people would you choose and why?

The play (which takes place in 1904) makes many predictions about what will happen in the 20th century. What predictions can you make about the 21st century?

Which character do you think might be speaking in the voice of Steve Martin (the playwright) in Picasso at the Lapin Agile? Which character do you think represents Martin’s own attitudes and opinions about what is happening in the play?

Einstein is notorious for being a genius, but he wasn’t the only genius in history. Why do you think Einstein has become the household name for genius?

Einstein is quoted as having said that “Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work.” What do you think he meant by this? Do you agree or disagree?

When you hear the word art, what does it mean to you? What kinds of art do you enjoy? Do you consider yourself an artist? Why or why not?

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c urri c ulu m connections We believe that theatre can support and work in tandem with everyday classroom activities and scholastic goals. Below are some suggested activities that can be done for each production, with a focus on vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing.

VOCAB U LARY

FL U ENCY

• Highlight words in the script that are unfamiliar.

• Read the script aloud in a large circle.

• Pair up and read scenes aloud together.

• Write definitions in the margins of the script.

• Pick a character and focus on reading his/her lines with accuracy and expression.

• Find synonyms for new vocabulary words.

• Find antonyms for new vocabulary words.

• Study the new vocabulary words for spelling tests.

• Switch roles so that the students have a chance to experiment with different vocal expressions for different characters (tone, tempo, and volume).

COM P REHENS I ON

W R I T I NG

• Create a story map for the play.

• Write journal entries or monologues using vocabulary words.

• Create a biography for one of the characters.

• Write a journal entry or monologue from the perspective of one of the characters.

• Map out the relationships in the play.

• Write a scene depicting part of the story that we hear about in the play, but is not in the stage action.

• Summarize the play.

• Summarize each individual scene.

• Write a review of the production.

• Summarize the play from the perspective of one of the characters.

• Write a letter to one of the cast members, designers, director, playwright, or staff members sharing your impression and questions regarding the show.

• Answer the essay and text-related questions.

• Discuss the play’s themes.

• Write a letter from one character to another.

• Discuss the current events that correlate with the themes of the play.

• Write a new ending to the play.

• Cut out articles from magazines and newspapers that discuss some of the issues and topics brought up in the play.

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F O R T H E F I R ST - T I ME T H E A T R E G OE R In theatre etiquette, the major consideration to keep in mind is that your actions can be distracting not only to the rest of the audience, but to the actors on stage as well. Behavior that is acceptable in other public settings, like movie theatres, ballgames, or concerts, is out of place when attending the theatre.

The following tips should help you get acquainted with some DOs and DON’Ts for first-time theatregoers.

DO arrive early. Make considerations for traffic, parking, waiting in line, having your ticket taken, and finding your seat. If you need to pick up your tickets from the box office, it is a good idea to arrive at least twenty minutes early. Generally, you can take your seat when “the house is open,” about half an hour before the show begins.

Late seating is always distracting and usually not allowed until intermission or a transition between scenes, if it is allowed at all. Follow the old actors’ mantra: To be EARLY is to be ON TIME. To be ON TIME is to be LATE. To be LATE is UNFORGIVABLE. DO dress appropriately. Going to the theatre is a special event for many people, and your clothing should reflect your respect. The dress code is casual, but not sloppy: hats, bandannas, and revealing clothes are a bad idea. Nice jeans are okay, but those with holes are not.

DO turn off your cell phone. Phones and any other noise-making devices should be switched off before you even enter the theatre: you won’t be allowed to use them anyway. Texting during a performance is also rude. The intermission is a good time to use your phone, but remember to turn it off again before the next act begins.

DON’T leave your garbage in the theatre. Food and drinks are usually not permitted in the theatre at all, with the exception of bottled water. If it is allowed, be sure to throw out your trash in a garbage can or recycling bin in the lobby; don’t leave it for the house manager or ushers at the end of a show.

DO watch your step. Aisles can be narrow, so please be considerate when finding your seat. Avoid getting up during the performance whenever possible, since it can be very distracting. You can use the restroom before the show and during intermission. Also, be careful not to cross in front of the stage, as it will break the illusion of the show. Don’t step on or over seats, and never walk on the stage itself.

DON’T talk during the performance. Chatting is extremely rude to the actors and the audience around you.

Everyone is trying to pay attention to the play and those nearby will be able to hear, so please be quiet and considerate.

DO get into it! Actors feed off of the audience, just as the audience feeds off of the actors. Don’t be afraid to laugh, clap, or cry if you are so moved. However, there is a line that can be crossed. Please be respectful, and don’t distract from the work of the professionals on stage. After all, people paid good money to watch the show, not you. Just enjoy the experience and let yourself have an honest response.

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