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Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  2w, 7m

Steve Martin's long-running off-Broadway absurdist comedy places Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian cafe in 1904, just before the renowned scientist transformed physics with his theory of relativity and the celebrated painter set the art world afire with cubism.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period
  • Suggested Use
    • Cutting Approved for Competition
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Senior, Pre-Teen (Age 11 - 13), Teen (Age 14 - 18)
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! 1996 Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Off Broadway Play

Details

Summary

This is the 2017 revised version of the script and is the only version that is approved for performance.

This long-running Off Broadway absurdist comedy places Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian cafe in 1904, just before the renowned scientist transformed physics with his theory of relativity and the celebrated painter set the art world afire with cubism. In his first comedy for the stage, the popular actor and screenwriter plays fast and loose with fact, fame, and fortune as these two geniuses muse on the century’s achievements and prospects, as well as other fanciful topics, with infectious dizziness. Bystanders, including Picasso’s agent, the bartender and his mistress, Picasso’s date, an elderly philosopher, Charles Dabernow Schmendiman, and an idiot inventor introduce additional flourishes of humor. The final surprise patron to join the merriment at the Lapin Agile is a charismatic dark-haired singer, time-warped in from a later era.

History
Picasso at the Lapin Agile opened at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois, on October 13, 1993.
Cast Attributes
Keywords

FREDDY, the owner and bartender of the Lapin Agile

GASTON, an older man

GERMAINE, waitress and Freddy’s girlfriend

ALBERT EINSTEIN, age twenty-five

SUZANNE, age nineteen

SAGOT, Picasso’s art dealer

PABLO PICASSO, age twenty-three

CHARLES DABERNOW SCHMENDIMAN, a young man

THE COUNTESS

A FEMALE ADMIRER

A VISITOR

Parts for up to 7 men and 4 women

  • Time Period 1900-1910
  • Setting A bar in paris, 1904.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration 75 Minutes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol

Media

“Steve Martin's enlightening play is equally smart and silly.” – Hartford Courant

“It’s important to remember that the playwright of Picasso at the Lapin Agile is Steve Martin, stand-up comic, actor, writer, banjo player and something of a genius in his own right. So when big questions are being addressed, you can be sure that a layer of silliness is always in place (and, subversively, a layer of seriousness beneath that).” – The New York Times

“Highly credible and... very funny. The subject matter is daring... You get giggles in plenty [and] moments of enlightenment... The introduction of the final, exquisitely selected visitor from the future is a master stroke.” – New York Post

“Consistently entertaining.” – New York Daily News

“Very engaging... Martin sends ideas onstage in baggy pants, with a cigar... mix[ing] the sublime with the ridiculous [so] that they can't be easily disentangled... Very good fun.” – The New York Times

“A major treat.” – Newsday

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

25 Years Later: Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile
by Kevin Rigdon
November 27, 2018

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

    Please submit a license request to determine availability.

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Authors

Steve Martin

As an actor, comedian, author, playwright, screenwriter, producer and musician—Steve Martin is one of the most diversified performers and acclaimed artists of his generation. Martin has been successful as a writer of and performer in some of the most popular movies of rec ...
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