Picasso at the Lapin Agile By Steve Martin

Characters:

Freddy	The owner and bartender of the Lapin Agile, the common man
Gaston	An older man, always going to the bathroom
Germaine	Waitress, Freddy’s girlfriend
Albert Einstein	Age twenty five
Suzanne	Nineteen
Sagot	Picasso’s art dealer
Pablo Picasso	Age twenty-three
Charles Dabernow Schendiman	A young man, represents commercialism
The Countess
A female admirer
A visitor	A musician from the future, with blue suede shoes and jet-black hair, from Memphis, TN. Elvis.

Time:	1904- one year before Einstein published the Theory of Relativity; three years before Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Setting:	A bar in Paris
Mode:	Realism/antirealism
Form:	Comedy

Themes: -      Science vs. art- which one has a greater influence -      The perception of art

Plot:

A scientist, a painter and an inventor or a musician walks into a bar... This is what happens if you were to get Picasso and Einstein in the same room, after a couple of drinks- they debate who will have a greater influence on the world. A Matisse painting is hung over the bar, in which the Freddy, Einstein, Picasso, the visitor and Gaston all have different feelings and ideas about what it represents.

Quotes:

Sagot

I know that there are two subjects in paintings that no one will buy. One is Jesus, and the other is sheep. Love Him as much as they want, no one really wants a painting of Jesus in the living room. You’re having a few people over, having a few drinks, and there’s Jesus over the sofa. Somehow it doesn’t work. And not in the bedroom either, obviously. I mean, you want Jesus watching over you but not while you’re in the missionary position. You could put Him in the kitchen maybe, but then that’s sort of insulting to Jesus. Jesus, ham sandwich, Jesus, ham sandwich; I would like it and neither would He. I.i.36

Freddy

He means that in the twentieth century, no political movement will be as glorious as the movement across the paper, the note across the staff, or the idea across the mind.I.i.77

Notes:

An icebox laugh- you don’t laugh now, but later the laugh comes to you when you’re at home in front of the icebox Jam-packed with quid-pro-quos between artist, bartender, scientist, old man and lover. The conversation flows as it would in a bar where everyone is drinking- short jabs, petty I’m better than you arguments, debating existence, and telling stories and bad jokes all without a plot. What would it be like if Einstein and Picasso knew each other? The actual Lapin Agile in Paris was a familiar spot for Picasso, Modigliani, Derain, and other artists. Named after the rabbit jumping out of a frying pan on the side of the building.  Because it is located near the Sacre Coeur, visitors often discuss the importance of art. Picasso painted the Lapin Agile in 1905.

Playwright:

Born: 1945 Died: Year Written: 1993

Bio: With a flair for philosophy and the idea of logic, Steve Martin went into writing. He wanted to know what happened if he created so much tension in his writing- what the audience would do with the bottled up tension. He turned his focus into the theater and standup comedy. Landing on Saturday Night Live, his popularity as well as the shows, shot through the roof. He eventually incorporated his musical talent into his SNL bits and launched several albums because of it. Since his SNL and music days, Martin has acted, directed, wrote and plays a little banjo on the side. He married Victoria Tennant in 1986 and was divorced in 1994. Married Anne Stringfield Opening run of Picasso at Steppenwolf Theater lasted nearly 8 months -  won 1996 Outer Critics Circle Awards for best play and best writer

Other Work:

	The Zig-Zag Woman
	Patter for the Floating Lady
1977	The Absent-Minded Waiter- short film. Academy Award nominee for Best Short Film, Live Action
1979	The Jerk- screenplay
1989	Roxanne (film adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac) -co-wrote- won a Writers Guild of America, East award
1996	WASP
1997	L.A. Story and Roxanne- screenplay
2000	Shop girl- novella
2002	Adapted The Underpants
2003	The Pleasure of My Company- novella
2007	Born Standing Up- his memoirs
2007	The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z- a children’s book
2008	Traitor- co-wrote
2010	An Object of Beauty
2010	Late for School- a children’s book