Get Drunk with Last Century's Greats: Picasso and Einstein's Favorite Dive Lives

Picasso at the Lapin Agile, comedian Steve Martin's 1996 take on the conundrums that the young geniuses Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein might have faced, contains heterogeneous elements running from unabashed sexuality to out-landish predictions about the future, all presented in a sometimes comic, sometimes tragic mode. However, the play's overarching theme is the question of what the twentieth century holds in store for humankind. Watching this thought-provoking piece at the end of 1998, near the threshhold of the 21st century, is a most meaningful experience.

Picasso and Einstein--both on the verge of having fame thrust upon their shoulders--are young men as hopeful as they are insecure, in many ways a reflection of our very selves as we too struggle with the dawning of the second millennium. The audience can identify not only with Picasso and Einstein, but with many other quirky characters congregating at the Lapin Agile, that famous Parisian bar which Picasso and Einstein, so we are told, patronized faithfully in their youth.

Edward Eaton and Shawn Elinoff's recent production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, also directed by Eaton and produced through special arrangement with Dramatist Play Services, did a magnificent job of creating the ambiance of a bygone time and place. As the play was produced in an elegant Beacon Hill townhouse, audience and cast mingled in a way that supported the illusion that what was going to happen on stage was happening in the here and now. Due to the very nature of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, environmentalist theater worked perfectly.

The actors were also able to incorporate certain aspects of their imposing surroundings--oil paintings, a grand piano, antique couches and chairs--into the play, never ceasing to amaze the audience. Some members of the audience, those with centrally-located seats, found themselves included in the action of the play, much to their delight and amusement. It almost seems as if this play were meant to be staged in such a manner, in such a home--on a traditional stage, in front of a large audience, the play could seem stiff and overdone at times); whereas, through Eaton's direction, the piece was fluid and lighthearted, yet always purposeful.

The play's atmosphere was backed up by its altogether eclectic yet superb cast, including students from Emerson College, professional actors and Harvard's own Adam "Waka" Green '99. Green gave a show-stopping, bust-your-gut hilarious performance as the would-be genius Schmendiman, inventor of some rather bizarre (and useless) creations. Green stole the show, providing some needed comic relief. He kept the audience laughing with his portrayal of the bold, overly confident Schmendiman--a perfect foil to the more thoughtful and modest Picasso and Einstein, who are destined to become the "true" geniuses.

As Einstein, Edward Hightower was well-cast as the slightly naive, thoughtful Einstein. As the more flamboyant Picasso, Shawn Elinoff, 1996 Artist-in-Residence for the Hyperion Shakespeare Company, shone: the Picasso he embodied was complex, filled with bitterness, insecurity and lust but most of all, a passion for his artistic vision.

Supporting actors included Emerson student Porter McDonald as the sweet and not particularly bright bartender Freddy, and Douglas W. Horner, a musical theater major at the Boston Conservatory, who played "the Visitor," easily recognizable as Elvis Presley. One of the best scenes is the final one, when The King is juxtaposed with Picasso and Einstein.

In this age of millennium bugs, impeachment trials and ghosts of biological warfare, Picasso at the Lapin Agile takes us back to a gentler time, when the future was something to harness not something that would spin out of our hands, threatening to engulf our present civilization.