White Canvas, Big Egos: The History and Broadway Return of Yasmina Reza’s Art

More than 30 years ago, French actress turned playwright Yasmina Reza took one look at a piece of modern art purchased by a close friend and burst into laughter. Fortunately, her reaction didn’t offend her friend—but what if it had? That brief encounter inspired the worldwide hit play Art, which has been performed in 30 languages since its 1994 Paris premiere, including an English translation that won the 1998 Tony Award for Best Play. Featuring juicy parts for three actors, Art is back at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre for a limited engagement, starring Tony winners Neil Patrick Harris and James Corden and two-time Tony nominee Bobby Cannavale, directed by Scott Ellis.

Art Appreciation
“You paid two hundred thousand francs for this sh*t?”

Art wastes no time setting up the conflict that fuels 100 minutes of fast and funny wordplay. Serge, a successful dermatologist, has purchased a large all-white painting for an astronomical price. Marc, an aeronautical engineer, despises the painting on sight and is aghast that his best friend bought it. “It’s unsettled me,” he tells the audience in one of the play’s many breaks in the fourth wall. “It’s filled me with some indefinable unease.” Completing this frenemy triangle is Yvan, a struggling salesman and people pleaser, who can’t get worked up either way over the painting but is caught between his excitable pals while struggling to plan his wedding.

Of course, Art isn’t really about the merits of an expensive white painting. It’s about men’s friendships—their egos, expectations and misunderstandings—written, remarkably enough, by a woman in her mid-30s. Speaking to The New York Times in 1998, Reza explained how friendship between men is different: “I think it is terribly rigid. Often men have no real friends. French men at least. They have colleagues, contacts, but not friends, and when they do, it is a very strong, possessive, rigid [relationship]. All the men who saw Art said it is amazing, how did you understand this or that? I said I understood nothing, I just noticed.”

Three-Part Disharmony
“You’re complete freaks, both of you. Two normal men gone completely insane!”

After causing a sensation in Paris, Art made the leap to London in 1996, with Sean Connery as lead producer. The distinguished British playwright Christopher Hampton (The Philanthropist, Les Liaisons Dangereuses) translated the script and was impressed by Reza’s ability to write riveting dialogue. Looking back in a 2018 interview, he said, “What’s so interesting is that, like certain plays by Pinter, perhaps, the play adapts itself to its actors, so it doesn’t seem to matter if you cast it with men in their 60s or their 30s.”

Consider, for example, the variety of actors who have played Marc, the judgmental friend who at various points calls Yvan “a coward,” “an amoeba,” “a sponge” and “a little arse-licker.” Originated in London by Albert Finney and on Broadway by Alan Alda, the part has since been played by Brian Cox, Stacy Keach, Judd Hirsch and Buck Henry. Bobby Cannavale, a veteran of Glengarry Glen Ross and The Motherf**ker with the Hat, seems perfectly cast in Art’s most volatile role.

Serge, the suave would-be modern art expert, was created in London by Finney’s real-life friend Tom Courtenay and on Broadway by Victor Garber. The role was subsequently played by Henry Goodman, David Dukes, Joe Morton and George Segal before being revived this fall by Neil Patrick Harris. As for scene-stealer Yvan—gifted by Reza with a massive monologue about needy mothers, evil stepmothers and an angry bride-to-be—Alfred Molina received a Best Actor Tony nomination; original London star Ken Stott nabbed an Olivier Award nod. Since then, Yvan has been viewed as the play’s comic relief, played by George Wendt, David Haig, Wayne Knight and now James Corden.

And the Tony Goes To…
“To think we’ve reached these extremes…apocalypse because of a white square.”

Believe it or not, only three women have won Tony Awards for Best Play: Frances Goodrich, who shared the 1956 prize with her husband, Albert Hackett, for The Diary of Anne Frank; Wendy Wasserstein, winner in 1989 for The Heidi Chronicles; and Yasmina Reza, two-time winner for Art and the blistering 2009 comedy God of Carnage. Unsurprisingly, the critical response to Reza’s plays has included a fair amount of mansplaining, although Times critic Ben Brantley praised Art as “a sleek, pleasant comedy of manners with an intellectual veneer that allows audiences to relax at the theater without feeling they’re wasting time.”

Reza’s 1998 Tony win was considered an upset over critical darling The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh, which nabbed three acting Tonys. (Overall, it was a big Tony night for women, as Garry Hynes and Julie Taymor became the first female Best Director award winners for Beauty Queen and The Lion King, respectively.) Art enjoyed a healthy Broadway run of 18 months, closing in August 1999. Reza went on to write several novels and an award-winning screen adaptation of God of Carnage.

Best of Frenemies
“I didn’t like the painting…but I didn’t actually hate it.”

Judging by the playful interaction of Harris, Cannavale and Corden in promotional videos, audiences at Art are in for a night of entertaining confrontations. “I think it’s a perfect theatrical evening,” Harris told Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek. “It starts as this nice highbrow conversation about contemporary art and takes this intermission-less journey that devolves into comedy [and] chaos. I like the surprise of it.” The play, adds Corden, “treats the audience with respect—it accepts that they’re going to listen, that they’re okay with context and nuance and differences of opinion.”

Chemistry is especially important in a dialogue-heavy three-hander, and the stars of Art began rehearsal as fans of one another’s work. “That’s the first question you ask: Who are the other two guys?” Cannavale said. “So, I was thrilled to get to share a stage with, I mean, Hedwig and f**king One Man, Two Guvnors,” citing the shows that won Harris and Corden their Tonys. It helps that the co-stars share an enduring love of stage acting. “My respect for Neil and Bobby as performers [with] the discipline of being committed to [theater] is incredible,” Corden says. “As soon as it became clear that they were interested in doing this, it was a no-brainer.”

Digging into the thorny friendships depicted by Reza, Corden marvels at the play’s timelessness. “This feels like it could have been written two months ago,” he says. “It’s so rich; the dialogue is so great.” Adds Harris, “We are in a time right now where differences of opinion are really triggering, and so I think it will be fun [for audiences] to sit and watch people disagree about things in a passionate way.” Best of all, says Cannavale, “Anybody can recognize themselves in this play. It might seem like it’s a play about three well-to-do guys arguing over a piece of contemporary art, but I’m positive that anybody can see themselves in these characters.”