Picasso at the Lapin Agile – The Pavilion Theatre: Review by Cynthia Ning

The Pavilion Theatre served the end of the year with a star-studded play featuring Picasso and Einstein meeting at the Lapin Agile in 1904, Paris, written by Steve Martin.

As we entered the barn house turned theatre, the red curtains had two spotlights featuring a rabbit and the Eiffel Tower representing the location to set the ambience for us to be transported back in time to the turn of the 20th Century.

The show opens with a generously sized bar setting paired with two customer tables, chairs, and a green background reminiscent of the set design of the Cheers television series, a place to go where everybody knows your name. Freddy (Blake Michael Paish) the bartender breaks the fourth wall early on, indicating the order of appearance and setting the tone that anything goes with the show, and nothing is linear. He is very likeable and has a distinct laugh that is infectious and got me laughing whenever he made a joke that landed about 20 minutes after the fact.

The bar entrance and restroom acted like a long revolving door in which any character could appear at any moment of each time when needed. Freddy’s sheep painting would also act as an anchor point to the plot of the story. Enter Gaston (Ben Freeman) the hilarious regular patron of the Lapin Agile who frequents the bathroom and happily discusses intimacy with women and drinks as his point of expertise. There was clever use of a projector to display the backdrop of the bar which features the Eiffel Tower during the night and artwork toward the end of the play for a final reveal.

Albert Einstein (Mitchel Doran) enters more than once into the bar. He has great control of his facial features with distinct eye movements and impressive reciting of multiple theories to support his arguments. Suzanne (Daisy Alexis) saunters in and slides into the vacant seat as Freddy takes immediate notice and pours her red wine after being quizzed by the ever-charming Germain (Bernadette Hook) who has Freddy wrapped around her pinkie. Both leading ladies emulated visual storytelling with their monologues through comical gestures and changes in vocal tone. They were all wonderful to watch as the dialogue pacing felt natural and not rushed. Due to the length of the theatre, I would have liked them to project their voices more, as I had to really listen in to what they were saying through their French accents. Suzanne and Blake had the task of speaking in multiple accents which is a difficult act to pull off. There was some slipping of the French accent but quickly picked up during group banter and their monologues.

The first act is a slow burn, building towards the anticipation of the allusive Picasso, his work and his ever-growing bar tab. The Art dealer (Brett Watkins) casually waltzes in, well dressed in grey with black gloves, understands the worth of valuable portraits and promises that Picasso is indeed, an artist of high-quality work and is worth a good fortune when it is signed. And, when all introductions were made Pablo Picasso (Taha Zonoozi) finally makes his marvellous entrance and presents himself with raw and rugged passion for his art. There is great physicality that lifts the performance and energy of the play. He shows a great love and appreciation of the female body, even going so far as winning Suzanne back after briefly forgetting about seeing her a few nights before. We find ourselves laughing with Picasso’s interactions at the bar and we relished his reaction with every little mention of his rival Matisse.

Costuming was simple and effective for the time period and Daisy did a stellar job transforming into multiple characters with different accents making her unrecognisable at times. Fun lighting and sound effects such as squiggles and a light ball creating the illusion of stars shooting across the sky emphasised with the absurdity of the show. Well done to the crew for an immaculate job.

There was a glass cup that rolled off the table in a moment of heated discussion between Einstein and Picasso. Blake noticed this and went to clear the mess while delivering his lines. I commend the actors for going on with the show, looking after each other and the audience to ensure no one was injured.

During the conversation over the potential third genius who will change the century with their ideas and vision, enter Schmendiman (Daniel Vavasour) exudes confidence with a blinding toothy grin as he pitched himself to be the man they are looking for. The audience welcomed his brief comical appearance and the jokes were well-timed and landed.

Just as we thought things couldn’t get stranger after seeing the appearance of Schmendiman, The Visitor (Constance Charlesworth Halstead) comes from the restroom dressed in bright blue with suede boots and an electric guitar. The audience is taken aback by this unexpected turn of events but welcomes the singer and suspects they might be Elvis but keeps that to themselves. Constance gave us a convincing Southern American accent, was comfortable in the space and felt well-suited to the role.

The audience was treated to Picasso’s African Period (1906-1909) Les Demoiselles d’Avignon piece which depicted five female prostitutes, nude and in angular shapes that sparked controversy amongst the public, his associates, and friends. This was the alluded future of Picasso for his revolutionary painting that would open the doors for other artists in understanding that their style and influences can change during each new period of their life and are not bound to just one formula they were made known for. Likewise, as Einstein accidentally reveals the end of his book it leads to further discoveries such as the Theory of Relativity (1905) in which his general theory would go on to be published in 1916. His work as we know it today changed the course of how we understood space, time, and gravity and how we live in the cosmos. 

As the three look out toward the future, they all come to a mutual understanding of the importance each of their work will bring to the world. The theatre lights up with fairy lights to show the stars of themselves as we remember them long after they have gone, leaving us with their gift to carry on to future generations creating the present we live in today and beyond.

A huge congratulations to the cast and crew for pulling this wonderful show together and leaving us with a smile as we exit 2022. These are promising actors that are dedicated to their craft, and I am looking forward to seeing what they will appear in next.

Make sure to check out The Pavilion Theatre 2023 Season which promises to be a cracker!

Images supplied.