The department of Performing Arts in the UL College of the Arts opens the 2015-2016 season with ART, the hit comedy about three friends and the remarkable painting that comes between them. ART by Yasmina Reza is sponsored by the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, presented in both French and English, and directed by University of Louisiana at Lafayette theatre professor Carl Granieri.
ART is on stage October 14 – November 1, 2015, at the A. Hays Town House on the UL Lafayette campus. Show times are 7:00pm Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8:00pm Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00pm Sundays. Tickets are $10 and may be ordered online at ulpfar.org or by calling the Performing Arts Office at 337-482-6357. UL Lafayette Faculty, Staff, and Students are admitted free with proof of ID (they should order in advance online).
In ART, a wealthy young doctor, Serge, astounds his two best friends, Marci and Yvonne, when he purchases an unusual— and unusually priced— contemporary painting. When Marci confronts Serge and ridicules him for wasting his money, the three begin to question the nature of their relationship. As the play progresses and their wrangling escalates, it soon becomes clear that ART is less about art and more about the complexities of truth and loyalty in friendship. “ART is a hilarious exploration of what we endure when we feel betrayed by our friends. It’s cruel and painfully funny at the same time, and some of the most poignant moments in the play are also the most ridiculous. This alchemy is the secret to the play’s worldwide acclaim,” said Granieri. In a first for the department, the piece is being presented in both the original French as well as in English, making use of Christopher Hampton’s wonderful translation of Reza’s play. Both the French and English casts feature talented female performers in roles typically reserved for men. “Regardless of gender or nationality, the play is packed with insights about all those unmentionables that we’re not supposed to talk about in our relationships: who’s more powerful, who’s richer, cooler, smarter, who has more sex appeal, who’s the leader and the follower, and how do we compete with each other?”
Since its premiere two decades ago, ART has become an international theatrical sensation. It has been translated into 35 languages and produced all over the world. The play opened in Paris in 1994, where it won Molière Awards for best author, best play, and best production. It went on to receive the 1997 Olivier Award for best play and the 1998 Tony Award and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play. “This play has touched a nerve far more universal than even Yasmina Reza probably could have once imagined,” Granieri said.
UL Lafayette’s production of ART features the acting talents of six theatre BFA students. In the English-language production, Irene Ryan Award nominee and graduating senior Candace Taylor portrays Marci, an aeronautical engineer who is bewildered and angered by her best friend’s new purchase. Serge is played by junior BFA candidate Tycarlous Deberry, while Missy Shepherd, also a junior, portrays Yvonne, the flustered friend perennially caught in the middle. In the French-language production, a trio of sophomore BFA acting students— Kaitlin Romero, Christian Moussiet, and Brandii Champagne— portray Marci, Serge, and Yvonne respectively. Romero, Moussiet and Champagne are not native French speakers and have made the extraordinary commitment to learning an entire full-length play in a language they don’t speak. “Working closely with the Francophone Studies department, our students in the French cast have challenged themselves in a way most professional actors would never dare. I have been extraordinarily impressed with their work ethic and bravery in this process. The opportunity to serve Acadiana by presenting a work in the language that is the root of our culture, however, was an opportunity we could not pass up. The College of the Arts is thrilled to be making our available in French.”
Playwright Yasmina Reza was born in 1959 in Paris, France. After studying at Paris X University and the Jacques Lecoq Drama School, she began her career as an actress. Her first play, Conversations After a Burial (1987), gave her immediate success as a playwright. Reza’s plays have been international critical and popular successes, translated and produced worldwide. In addition to Art, she is the author of The Passage of Winter (1989), The Unexpected Man (1995), Life x 3 (2000), and Une Piece Espagnole (2004). Her novels include Hammerklavier, Desolation, and Adam Haberberg.
Translator Christopher Hampton is an award-winning writer, translator, and lyricist. His credits include translations of Reza’s Conversations After a Burial, Art, The Unexpected Man, and Life x 3. His plays The Philanthropist and Les Liaisons Dangereuses received Tony Award nominations for Best Play. His screenplay for the film Dangerous Liaisons, adapted from his play, won a 1988 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hampton won a 1995 Tony Award for Best Book for the musical Sunset Boulevard. His most recent endeavor is writing book and lyrics (with Don Black) for Dracula, The Musical, which opened on Broadway in August.