‘Picasso’ Returns; Laughs Still Sparkle

In a French bistro in 1904, where famous men come and go, a barman makes a prediction concerning the new century. He tilts up his head and proclaims: “Led by Germany, this will be known as the century of peace! Clothes will be made of wax!”

At its pithiest, the distinctive voice of playwright Steve Martin is a tonic for our millennial unease. Set on a night when the 20th century was just about to be defined by the minds of Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” is a toast to these two visionaries, men whose ideas it gives Martin pleasure to roam through, as a free-ranging connoisseur and a beneficiary of the world that they helped create.

The comedy, which was seen at the intimate Westwood (now the Geffen) Playhouse in 1994, is back for a return engagement at the much larger Wilshire Theatre. The Wilshire is not a perfect home for this work, which can feel chilly in its large, long auditorium. “Picasso” is essentially a playful and direct conversation between a playwright and an audience, which is never asked to be engaged emotionally. But while not set in a perfect frame, the play is still a short, combustible essay from an original comic thinker.

A bar full of endearing and oddball characters flit in and out of the Lapin Agile. Martin fractures the timeline by endowing characters with contemporary sarcasm. Arguing over a painting, the bartender sneeringly asks his challenger: “And what do you see, Einstein?” Einstein (Mark Nelson) and Picasso (Paul Provenza) are not only punch lines for Martin’s jokes, they are also mouthpieces for the playwright’s ideas about what made the passing century extraordinary.

When the bartender (Ian Barford) notices that a character enters in the wrong order from that dictated by the program, Martin easily smashes the theater’s fourth wall and simultaneously toys with Einstein’s ideas about time. His characters are as aware of being at the very start of a century as we are of being at the end of it. What seems to stir the playwright is the “relay” one of his characters refers to, wherein one great mind touches another further down the line. Using his medium--comedy--Martin tries to emulate the exhilarating freedom he sees exemplified in the work of Picasso. He succeeds somewhat fitfully and modestly, but his successes are surprising and pleasurable.

Nelson is outstanding as Einstein; he genuinely seems to occupy some alternative plane of comprehension. Provenza conveys Picasso’s uber-maleness, though his genius is less apparent. Randall Arney repeats his emphatic direction of the play, turning it up two notches to fill the larger house.

At the end, three famous men stand together, joyfully feeling their own power, and they make a toast to the future century in which the achievements of scientists, painters and singers will far outshine those of governments. Martin touches lightly on the essential rue of that toast. He also, slyly, reminds us that comic contributions should also be added to the list.

* “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” Wilshire Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 1. $32-$42. (213) 365-3500. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Ian Barford: Freddy

Jim Mohr: Gaston

Kimberly King: Germaine

Mark Nelson: Albert Einstein

Susannah Schulman: Suzanne/The Countess/A Female Admirer

Ken Grantham: Sagot

Paul Provenza: Pablo Picasso

Michael Oosterom: Charles Dabernow Schmendiman

James Kruk: A Visitor

A production of Stephen Eich, Joan Stein, Richard Martini in association with Fox Theatricals, Jonathan Reinis Productions and Allen Spivak. By Steve Martin. Directed by Randall Arney. Sets Scott Bradley. Costumes Patricia Zipprodt. Lights Kevin Rigdon. Sound Richard Woodbury, Christopher “Kit” Bond. Production stage manager Alice Elliott Smith.