PARIS. 1904. Wine o’clock, on a not-so ordinary evening at the Lapin Agile. So begins the absurdist play by American comedian, actor, writer, playwright, producer and musician Steve Martin, to be staged by York Settlement Community Players next week.
In Montmartre’s iconic cabaret bar favoured by struggling artists, anarchists and intellectuals alike, two soon-to-be legends find themselves sitting next to each other. Spanish-born Cubist painter, sculptor and theatre designer Pablo Picasso and German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, pumped up with egos as big as their intellects, have plenty to discuss.
As the streets outside grow darker, the cafe is lit up with dizzying debate about the promise of the 20th century, but events take a surreal turn when a certain blue suede shoe-wearing singer from the future shows up. Yes, Elvis is not leaving but, rather, entering the building.
The challenge of directing Martin’s work as he plays fast and loose with history over 80 unbroken minutes falls to Natalie Roe in her first production since taking over from Livy Potter – now to pursue her acting career full time – as Settlement Players’ chair last month.
“This is his most famous play, an off-Broadway hit from 1993 that I’ve been looking to be performed in the UK,” says Natalie. “I saw it at Keene Stage College [the liberal arts college] in New Hampshire, when I was on an international exchange from York St John University (which had really attracted me to the university).
“I had a friend in the cast, another exchange student, from Ghana – us international students really stuck together! – who was playing the role of Freddy, and I loved it.”
Why? “It’s very funny. It has jokes that you don’t immediately get, which is unnerving, but equally if something is funny, it still makes you laugh 20 years later,” says Natalie.
“What I liked is that it was a mix of very silly humour and very intellectual humour and it has a lot to say about both art and science.
“The question is: how will these two great personalities, Picasso and Einstein – both young at this time before they become famous – get on when they meet in a bar in Paris. Steve Martin plays with this idea, where Picasso is as much a mathematician as Einstein is an artist.”
To add to the spice, in the triangular structure the renascent Martin favours once more as co-writer of the mystery comedy-drama series Only Murders In The Building, throws “arguably the greatest musician of the 20th century” into the mix. “That’s possibly Steve Martin’s way of dealing with genius and innovation, by having a time-travelling Elvis turn up!” says Natalie.
“We also have the bar staff, Freddie, the owner, Germaine, Sagot, the art dealer. Many of them are real historical characters, like Freddie, who did own the bar that Picasso used to frequent in Montmartre.
“Picasso was hanging out at this bar in Paris; Einstein was working in the Patent Office in Berne, so it is conceivable that they met!”
What Steve Martin delivers is a meeting of minds on October 8 1904, when both men are on the cusp of changing the world through ideas. Einstein will publish his theory of relativity in 1905; Picasso will paint his revolutionary work Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907.
“There’s a lot of referencing to what they think will happen in the 20th century, so you do get the idea that Steve Martin is at the same time looking back over what happened over the next 90 years,” says Natalie.
“In talking about what might happen, the value of art is discussed in terms of what is the meaning behind a painting, and is a piece of art worth more than it costs to buy it. Is one person’s opinion worth more than someone else’s, and in turn that thought chimes with Einstein’s theory of relativity.”
Martin’s Pablo Picasso is “quite critical of Einstein and his theories at the beginning of the play,” says Natalie. “Picasso’s issue is that he knows he’s on the cusp of something but he doesn’t know what it is. Part of his journey is his discovery of what turns out to be Cubism, and in Martin’s play it could be argued that his meeting with Picasso and of course Elvis from the future ignites his mind.”
Billed only as The Visitor rather than by name in the cast list, the Elvis in Picasso At The Lapin Agile has to be “iconic, almost like a Fairy Godfather”, says Natalie. “Young Elvis too. As part of the audition process, I made every actor do an Elvis impression.” She chose York actor Ray Raper, a regular player in Settlement Players’ Direct Approach performances when aspiring directors directs new works in a pub setting.
Settlement stalwart Mark Simmonds plays Einstein. “He’s very energetic,” says Natalie. “He studied Mathematics, which I didn’t know beforehand, but he seemed to ‘exude Maths’! You have to believe he could do all those equations – and you do!”
For Pablo, she picked James Lee, one of the York scene’s fast-rising talents. “He has a lot of stage presence. Pablo is a tricky part because it’s comedic, it’s poetic, but it’s also moody – and I knew straightaway that James had what I was looking for.”
York Settlement Community Players in Picasso At The Lapin Agile, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 29 to November 2, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Age recommendation: 14 upwards. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.