Rating: 
Summary: Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Review: To be honest, I don't actually own this book. I have however performed the play 'Picasso at the Lapin Agile', and found it to be one of the best contemporary plays I had ever read. It is a witty, intelligent piece written by an actor perhaps best known for more woolly works, such as 'Father of the Bride'; however the play is a developed and substantial one, and I thoroughly enjoyed both reading and performing it. It is set in Paris, 1904, at the Lapin Agile, an actual pub that Pablo Picasso frequented and that exists today, and concerns a fictional meeting between Albert Einstein and Picasso. It is also coloured with many other interesting characters, who I won't reveal in case any reader of this review wishes to see the play, suffice to say that the finale of the play, with Einstein, Picasso and a certain popular musical figure from the middle of the 20th Century, who I had the great pleasure of playing, is my best memory of the stage. An excellent play, which would recieve five stars on its own - however owing to the fact that I haven't read the rest of the plays, I give it a four.
Rating:
Summary: Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Review: To be honest, I don't actually own this book. I have however performed the play 'Picasso at the Lapin Agile', and found it to be one of the best contemporary plays I had ever read. It is a witty, intelligent piece written by an actor perhaps best known for more woolly works, such as 'Father of the Bride'; however the play is a developed and substantial one, and I thoroughly enjoyed both reading and performing it. It is set in Paris, 1904, at the Lapin Agile, an actual pub that Pablo Picasso frequented and that exists today, and concerns a fictional meeting between Albert Einstein and Picasso. It is also coloured with many other interesting characters, who I won't reveal in case any reader of this review wishes to see the play, suffice to say that the finale of the play, with Einstein, Picasso and a certain popular musical figure from the middle of the 20th Century, who I had the great pleasure of playing, is my best memory of the stage. An excellent play, which would recieve five stars on its own - however owing to the fact that I haven't read the rest of the plays, I give it a four.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: What a creative idea! Steve Martin has already shown himself to be a comedic genious, but with the release of "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" he proved himself to be very creative. Martin has two of the greatest thinkers, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein, of the 20th century meet up in a bar. An amazing concept! It is too bad that Martin does not allow this play to live up to its own, built-in potential. Sure it is visciously witty,(but so am I, and I am not a good play) but I guess I need more than sharp wit to entertain me. My main problem with this play are the inconsistancies. One moment the players recognize that they are part of the play, and then three lines later they have forgotten it. Anyway, in a play with Einstein and Picasso, has no need for such trival novelties as actors mingling with the audience. Not to mention the end. I will not give it away, but, as Nelle Carter said, "give me a break". I hope that I missed something in this play. Maybe I did because I read it quickly. So I will read it again, with the hopes that it gets better.
Rating:
Summary: Surreal and funny
Review: Yes, it's that Steve Martin -- the wacky guy from "Naked Gun." The actor comedian pens some remarkably witty and imaginative stagework in "Picasso at the Lapin Agile And Other Plays." Two of the four plays are way too brief, but the longer works sparkle with wit and weirdness."Picasso At The Lapin Agile" brings two geniuses to the Lapin Agile: Picasso and Einstein, both young men in 1904. A clever round of discussion starts from there, with the two great men examining science and the culture around them. There are two one-act plays; the first is "Zig-Zag Woman," which is about an emotionally desperate women whose body is in three pieces and her conversations with three men. The second one-act is "Patter For the Floating Lady," a surreal bit about a magician levitating his former love. "WASP" is perhaps the most biting, hilarious play of this collection -- a dark satire of the white-bread middle-classes of the 1950s. Martin expertly lampoons the religious, social, and cultural conventions of the WASPs of the time, with a father who doesn't know best, a pair of troublemaking kids, and a homemaker mom who talks with the voices in her head. Martin's plays are both cynical and silly (he identifies a luxury item as "a thing you have that annoys other people that you have it"), with plenty of humor both dark and light. The two shorter works are the weakest. While "Patter" has some sweet, sad moments, these are too brief and unformed to make as much of an impression. But "Picasso" and "WASP" are gems. The first is philosophical pondering, lightened with plenty of humor and an Elvis cameo. The second is dark absurdist satire that is more openly goofy. Don't think that just because Martin is a comedian that these are fluff -- he develops his characters with an expert hand. Yes, even the really silly ones (like the WASP Dad). "Picasso At The Lapin Agile And Other Plays" is a solid collection of plays, more complex and deep than they sound. Intelligent and whimsical, this is the world through Martin's twisted brain.
Rating:
Summary: Surreal and funny
Review: Yes, it's that Steve Martin -- the wacky guy from "Naked Gun." The actor comedian pens some remarkably witty and imaginative stagework in "Picasso at the Lapin Agile And Other Plays." Two of the four plays are way too brief, but the longer works sparkle with wit and weirdness. "Picasso At The Lapin Agile" brings two geniuses to the Lapin Agile: Picasso and Einstein, both young men in 1904. A clever round of discussion starts from there, with the two great men examining science and the culture around them. There are two one-act plays; the first is "Zig-Zag Woman," which is about an emotionally desperate women whose body is in three pieces and her conversations with three men. The second one-act is "Patter For the Floating Lady," a surreal bit about a magician levitating his former love. "WASP" is perhaps the most biting, hilarious play of this collection -- a dark satire of the white-bread middle-classes of the 1950s. Martin expertly lampoons the religious, social, and cultural conventions of the WASPs of the time, with a father who doesn't know best, a pair of troublemaking kids, and a homemaker mom who talks with the voices in her head. Martin's plays are both cynical and silly (he identifies a luxury item as "a thing you have that annoys other people that you have it"), with plenty of humor both dark and light. The two shorter works are the weakest. While "Patter" has some sweet, sad moments, these are too brief and unformed to make as much of an impression. But "Picasso" and "WASP" are gems. The first is philosophical pondering, lightened with plenty of humor and an Elvis cameo. The second is dark absurdist satire that is more openly goofy. Don't think that just because Martin is a comedian that these are fluff -- he develops his characters with an expert hand. Yes, even the really silly ones (like the WASP Dad). "Picasso At The Lapin Agile And Other Plays" is a solid collection of plays, more complex and deep than they sound. Intelligent and whimsical, this is the world through Martin's twisted brain.
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