"ART" - by Yasmina Reza - Lyric Stage Company (Boston, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Michael Kaye as "Serge" and John Kuntz as "Marc" in a scene from "ART" by Yasmina Reza, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until March 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“He's comfortably off, but he's hardly rolling in money. Comfortable, no more, just comfortable. And he spends two hundred grand on a white painting."
- ("Marc") / Yasmina Reza
Lyric Stage Company
Presents Yasmina Reza's
"ART"
Written by Yasmina Reza
Directed by Courtney O'Connor
Cast Includes: Remo Airaldi* as "Yvan," Michael Kaye* as Serge," John Kuntz* as "Marc."
Additional Creative Team:
Scenic Design - Shelley Barish**; Costume Design - Chelsea Kerl**; Lighting Design - Elmer Martinez; Sound Design - Adam Howarth; Props Artisan - Lauren Corcuera; Production Stage Manager/Fight Captain - Thomas M. Kauffman*; Assistant Stage Manager - Lisette van den Boogaard; Assistant to the Director - Peter Kolodziej
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
** Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE
Performances:
February 21, 2025 through March 16, 2025
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
All performances to be held at LYRIC STAGE OF BOSTON, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
TICKETS:
Contact the Box Office at # 617-585-5678 or go to lyricstage.com
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
With its latest production, Lyric Stage Company explores the delicate boundaries of a friendship and the ever-increasing frailty of those ties that bind the friendship in Yasmina Reza’s "ART."
The main strength of Reza’s "ART" (as evidenced in this superb Lyric Stage production) comes from the relationship by the triumvirate of actors who together flawlessly execute the splendid text written by Reza.
This is a terrific staging that will completely captivate audiences.
Along with the non-stop, compelling 90-minutes of dialogue, we are also treated to some wonderfully rich and vivid monologues.
Given at varying moments and by all three actors, these monologues occasionally break the fourth wall as they speak of their varied frustrations directly to us.
(Photo: Michael Kaye as "Serge," Remo Airaldi as "Yvan" and John Kuntz as "Marc" in a scene from "ART" by Yasmina Reza, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until March 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
"ART" premiered in 1994 as a French-language play in Paris.
The play then was translated into English for a London run in 1996 before ultimately making its way to Broadway in 1998 where it would run until 1999.
"ART" received multiple awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 1997, and both the 1998 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and Tony Award for Best Play.
Now, at the Lyric Stage, under the direction of Courtney O’Connor, audiences can see why "ART" earned such accolades.
(Photo: John Kuntz as "Marc" sits opposite Michael Kaye as "Serge" in a scene from "ART" by Yasmina Reza, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until March 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
The story of "ART" begins as we are introduced to Marc (John Kuntz) at a Parisian art gallery, circa 2011.
Kuntz is marvelous as the blunt and acerbic Marc, who speaks to us candidly of his affinity for modern art and of his disdain for the recent acquisition by one of his two best friends, both of whom we are also about to meet.
The single “gallery” set is sparse of what anyone might consider to be “art” - but soon we find that it actually serves as the perfect "blank canvas" for what is about to be “appear” upon it and before us.
(Photo: Michael Kaye as "Serge," Remo Airaldi as "Yvan" and John Kuntz as "Marc" in a scene from "ART" by Yasmina Reza, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until March 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
Marc’s friend, Serge (Michael Kaye), has purchased a massive painting that is completely white.
A white painting set upon a blank white canvas.
Right - one might immediately see Marc’s issue with Serge’s purchase.
(Okay - so it also has some slightly altered white lines upon it)
Marc is stunned and tells Serge as much, which places their friendship at a major turning point.
Kaye gives a thoughtful, considered portrayal of the sensitive yet caring friend Serge who finds himself at a breaking point over Marc's constant artistic snobbery, one among many issues which later become exposed.
(Photo: Michael Kaye as "Serge," John Kuntz as "Marc" and Remo Airaldi as "Yvan" in a scene from "ART" by Yasmina Reza, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until March 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
Their mutual friend, Yvan (Remo Airaldi) - who is simultaneously contending with a difficult upcoming wedding - is, “as usual” throughout their 15 years of friendship, finding himself trying to appeal to both of his friends’ positions.
Yet, Yvan, exceptionally played by Airaldi, is instead drawn into the veritable nucleus of the exacerbating conflict between Marc and Serge.
The trio argues not only over Serge’s questionable purchase but also on art, life itself and aspects thereof as connected to their entire relationship as friends.
As the play reaches its zenith, the companions must decide if they can find a pathway forward or if there should even be a pathway forward in order to save their friendship.
(Photo: Michael Kaye as "Serge" and John Kuntz as "Marc" in a scene from "ART" by Yasmina Reza, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until March 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
"ART" continues at Lyric Stage Company until March 16th, 2025 and those who see it will agree that the Reza story is not only a theatrical work of art, it is also a literary work of heart.
Coming up next at Lyric Stage Company will be “THE GREAT REVEAL” by David Valdes, beginning April 4th, 2025 and running through April 27th.
For more information and tickets, contact the Lyric Stage Company Box Office at # 617-585-5678 or go to lyricstage.com.
BUY TICKETS
Approximately 90 minutes with no intermission
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
Three life-long friendships are faced with the reality that maybe they never had anything in common to begin with.
Serge has purchased a modern painting for an outrageous sum.
Marc hates it.
Yvan is stuck in the middle.
When superficial ideals and values that they once joked about appear to be at the core of Serge’s intentions, comradery is quickly replaced by a sense of betrayal.
This sophisticated comedy of manners forces three best friends to examine just how well they really know each other.
With sleek repartee and mounting friction, their evening together intensifies to the point of no return where loneliness could be the cost of their inability to save their friendship instead of their egos.
ABOUT THE LYRIC STAGE OF BOSTON
Founded in 1974 and in residence at 140 Clarendon Street since 1991, THE LYRIC STAGE OF BOSTON is Boston’s oldest resident theatre company. Our mission is to produce and present live theatre in Greater Boston with an intimate approach that promotes inclusivity and connection. THE LYRIC STAGE leads an effort to integrate live theater and theater education into the lives of all residents of greater Boston.
140 Clarendon Street
Boston, MA. 02116
# 617-585-5678
