Village Theatre hits stage with new production
Hudson Village Theatre’s production of Art ‘all about the actors,’
When playwright Yasmina Reza won the Laurence Olivier Award for best new comedy in 1997 for her play Art, she began her acceptance speech by saying she’d thought she’d written a tragedy. The comedy about friendships ripped apart following the purchase of a pricey piece of art, opens Wednesday at the Hudson Village Theatre. “It’s really funny, but it’s also so honest,” director Dean Patrick Fleming said. “At the simplest of levels it asks the question ‘what is art?’ But it’s really about friendship and what happens when friends change. The audience meets three amazing friends at a time of crisis, when they don’t know whether their friendship can continue.” Serge, played by Jimmy Blais, buys an expensive piece of modern art — an entirely white canvas — and is thrilled with the purchase. Marc, played by Marcel Jeannin, is shocked to the point of disgust, with Serge’s decision. Yvon, played by Daniel Brochu, doesn’t care much one way or the other. He just wants to save the friendship. The play debuted in Paris in 1994. The English version, translated by Christopher Hampton, opened in London’s West End in 1996 and ran for eight years. It opened on Broadway in 1998, won the Tony Award for best new play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play and went on to complete a 600-performance run. (Locally, Centaur Theatre produced Art in 2001 and Reza’s God of Carnage in 2013. Brave New Productions produced Art in 2013.) Fleming said the quibble over the art work — what it means and what it cost — quickly balloons into a confrontation about much more. “It’s one of those situations many of us have experienced when you begin to question who this person is — this person you thought was your friend,” Fleming said. “It’s painful because you still love this friend, but you can’t ignore what’s changed and something inside you won’t let you accept the change.” Fleming said that the beauty and the challenge of directing a play like Art is working to find the balance between the humour and the conflict. “Right from the start, the biggest thing for me was finding the best combination of actors,” Fleming said. “There is no trickery or scene changes in this play. It’s all about the actors. Jeannin was the first person Fleming thought of to play Marc. He knew Jeannin could bring a weight to the role, but also understand the level of comedy that was necessary. “(Brochu, as Yvon) would understand the comedy and bring a sense of empathy to the situation — also necessary,” Fleming said. “And I knew (Blais as Serge) would be able to convince us why it was possible to fall in love with this painting and would be able to stand his ground with the Marc character. A mentor once told me that great theatre is about people. At the heart of the success of this play is the fact it is about three people.” Art is at the Hudson Village Theatre, 28 Wharf Rd., Aug. 8-19. Tickets cost $34, fees not included. For reservations, call 450-458-5361, email hvtbox@videotron.ca or visit villagetheatre.ca.