‘Impressions’ on stage

Play explores lives depicted in paintings.

When the multifaceted Michael Leeds started work on what became “Impressions,” he was going to write a piece about dancers.

But the world of dance figures only briefly into a play now getting its world premiere by Pigs Do Fly Productions at the Abyss Stage in Wilton Manors. Leeds, a Carbonell Awardwinning playwright, director, screenwriter and choreographer, instead delves into the world of such impressionist painters as Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

In 13 short pieces running just 85 minutes, Leeds imaginatively explores the lives of women depicted in different impressionist paintings. The segments are by turns whimsical, amusing, touching and tragic, with many reflecting on the limited options for women in the late 1800s.

Most bring to life the subject or subjects from a single painting, but the third piece dramatically juxtaposes a vibrant beauty from American artist Mary Cassatt’s “In the Loge” against a woman wearing the black of mourning and staring through opera glasses in Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “La Loge.” That piece, about a much-betrayed wife and an experienced mistress, is one of the tragic ones.

Working on Jodi Dellaventura’s simple gallery set, where Kevin Black’s projections of impressionist masterpieces provide a changing array of art, three acclaimed South Florida performers — Barbara Sloan, Karen Stephens and Patti Gardner — portray the servants, aristocrats, workers and lovers Leeds conjures from the paintings.

Two elements help make “Impressions” visually striking: Costume designer Jerry Sturdefant largely re-creates the attire of the subjects in each artwork, and wig designer Kevin Raymond Hammond the hairstyles, making it seem as though the women have stepped out of the paintings; and lighting designer Ardean Landhuis sometimes bathes the scene in a mood-setting dappled light, suggesting the quality of light and even the brushstrokes in impressionist works. And sound designer David Hart links the pieces with music that evokes the varied facets of Parisian life.

In the strongest pieces, the actors transport the audience into the drama or comedy of a very particular world, as the best short plays do.

The best stuff in “Impressions” begins with a play based on Edgar Degas’ “Women Ironing,” in which Stephens plays a bold, norm-defying servant and Gardner a cautious one, and the talk turns to risk-taking and sex. Sloan is the woman in black in “La Loge,” Stephens the alluring mistress in “In the Loge,” a play roiling with jealousy and betrayal turned deadly.

Gardner is a photographer’s divalike subject in the play inspired by Édouard Manet’s “Portrait of Irma Brunner in a Black Hat,” imperious, scheming, determined to make an impression — and very surprising when she turns from her carefully posed position.

In the piece based on Dutch painter Isaac Israëls’ “In the Dance Hall,” Leeds imagines the two women dancing as not-so-secret lovers. But the story takes a surprising turn, as the confident Sloan and jittery Gardner discuss their options in the aftermath of a murder.

The most powerful play in “Impressions” is the one that brings the woman in Edgar Degas’ “The Absinthe Drinker” to life. Stephens plays a prostitute beaten down by her life, drink and tragedy. Her eyes still sparkle when she speaks of her little boy and her plans for his sixth birthday. Then, reality comes roaring back, derailing the woman’s absinthe-fueled musings.

Garner is very funny as the beleaguered server depicted in Manet’s “The Waitress,” demonstrating that customers have always been demanding and savvy servers have always had their number.

If Leeds, who also directed his play, continues working on those pieces, “Impressions” may well be worthy of future “exhibitions” on other stages.