Art

Art
by Yasmina Reza
Park Square Theatre, through April 13
What is Art? Three answers come to mind. First, it’s a play that asks the question, What is art? In other words, Art has genuine intellectual content—something we don’t encounter very often in the contemporary American theater. (More’s the pity.) Second, Art is a play with a somewhat misleading title. Yes, on one level it’s about aesthetics; but on another more dramatic level it’s about human relationships. A better title might be The Shock of Discovering Your Best Friend Is a Complete Idiot. That’s what happens in the play: A man buys an all-white painting which he takes quite seriously, thus endangering his friendship with another man who thinks the painting is the height of pretentiousness. Third, Art is one of the most critically lauded new plays to come along in years, and critics aren’t always wrong. This production marks not only the area premiere of Art, but also the return to directing of Richard Cook, Park Square’s artistic director, after a two-year hiatus. Well-known local actors Peter Moore, Jim Stowell, and Peter Gregory Thompson make up the cast. And if you need another reason to see the show, you can tell your friends that you saw Art for art’s sake.