Men on the Verge of Greatness
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” opens November 1
The long-running Off Broadway absurdist comedy "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" will be the first Studio Theatre performance produced by David Jortner, new director of theatre at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
"Picasso," the first comedy for the stage written by actor Steve Martin, imagines a fictional meeting in October 1904 between a young Albert Einstein and even younger Pablo Picasso. Martin plays fast and loose with fact, fame, and fortune as the unknown geniuses spend an afternoon in the real-life Parisian bar Lapin Agile (“The Nimble Rabbit”), ruminating on the possibilities the new century holds.
“The play is screamingly funny, which you expect from Steve Martin,” Jortner said. “It’s also got his signature high brow-low brow dynamic – you find amazing intelligence and manic slapstick in the same text.” “The 1904 setting is significant,” Jortner added, “because it’s one year before Einstein publishes his theory of relativity, and three years before Picasso paints ‘The Young Ladies of Avignon,’ which Newsweek just called the most influential work of art of the last 100 years. The play explores the intersection of art and science, and how their interests can be either complementary or competitive, which is a great thing to explore on a college campus.”
Jortner joined Penn State Behrend from Allegheny College, where he was a three-year visiting professor of theatre. In his own life, art and science intersected when he was a veterinary sciences undergraduate at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. “I had a calculus class at the same time I was in one of the theatre shows; it was just too much and something had to give,” he said. “I realized that one of those two things I really loved and enjoyed, and the other I didn’t. That’s when I changed my major.”
Jortner later earned a master’s degree in theatre at Michigan State University, and a doctoral degree in theater and performance studies, along with a certification in Asian studies, at University of Pittsburgh. His professional acting experience includes working for Disney Studios and at professional theatres in Los Angeles, Memphis, and Pittsburgh.
He also is co-editor of Modern Japanese Theatre and Performance (Lexington Books, 2007), a collection of sixteen essays on Japanese theatre that includes historical overviews of twentieth century theatre, analyses of specific productions and individuals, and discussion of the intercultural nature of modern Japanese theatre.
Jortner taught "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" in an avante-garde art and theatre course at Pitt; this production will be his first directing the show. “It’s a sublime collection of characters,” he said. “In addition to the two prickly geniuses, a collection of eccentrics drift through the bar. Picasso’s agent, the bartender and his mistress, a sex-obsessed philosopher, blowhard inventor, and a surprise guest at the end who, depending on your mindset, either ties the themes of intelligence and creativity together—or totally blows them apart. It’s one of those shows that you’ll find yourself mulling over hours later.”
Cast in the show are Penn State Behrend students Ryan Westwood, Stephanie Foy, Pat Sharbangh, Kyle Amy, Evan M. Koser, DeAnna O’Leary, Autumn Shoaf, and Alex Alvarado. The cast also includes Mike Stenzel, a member of the college’s information technologies support staff.
"Picasso at the Lapin Agile" opens at Penn State Behrend’s Studio Theatre at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 1. Additional shows will be held at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 2, Saturday, November 3, Thursday, November 8, Friday, November 9, and Saturday, November 10. The matinee performance will be at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, November 4. Tickets are $5 for Penn State Behrend students, faculty and staff, and $7 general admission. Make ticket reservations at 814-898-6242.