Caper yarn with an artsy twist

As James Joyce or Eugene O’Neill could confirm, genius can exact a heavy price on one’s loved ones. But what happens when one sacrifices all human concerns in heated service to a mediocre talent?

Keith Bunin’s brave and beautifully balanced play “The Credeaux Canvas” at the Little Victory, examines the essential nature of art and the problems that can arise when an artist ignores the human imperative.

Sensitively staged by Paul Nicolai Stein, Bunin’s play revolves around a romantic triangle and a forgery plot. Jamie (Matt Skaja), the dispossessed son of a wealthy art dealer, persuades his roommate, Winston (Johnny Clark), to forge a painting by an obscure turn-of-the-century French master.

Jamie’s girlfriend, Amelia (Kimberly-Rose), an aspiring singer, agrees to pose, nude, for the canvas, which Jamie intends to unload on wealthy society widow Tess (Marilyn McIntyre). But when Amelia falls in love with Winston, the plot unravels with dramatic complications.

Set designer John Williams’ appropriately cluttered artist’s studio evokes the squalor that can only be romanticized by the very young. Bunin’s basic plot is a simple caper yarn, yet Bunin plays against expectations at every turn. For example, Jamie describes Tess as a tasteless poseur. However, when Tess actually arrives on the scene, she proves brilliantly (and, to Jamie, dismayingly) astute on all matters artistic.

The performances are rich, spontaneous and often side-splittingly funny. Skaja makes us feel the desperation beneath his bombastic dilettante. Kimberly-Rose amplifies the saving practicality of Amelia, who has the good sense to know when to cut her losses. Not so Winston, who, in Clark’s nicely understated performance, persists in his single-minded quest for greatness long after he realizes his own folly. Best of all is McIntyre, whose supposedly “spoiled” socialite brims with humor, grace and unexpected wisdom.

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‘The Credeaux Canvas’

Where: The Little Victory, 3324 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank

When: Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.

Ends: April 24

Price: $20

Contact: (818) 426-6053

Running time: 2 hours