Serge is delighted with his purchase, but the reaction of his friend Marc ranges from disbelief to outright explosion which threatens to wreck their friendship, while their mutual friend Yvan desperately tries to keep the peace.
Yasmina Reza’s dark and dazzling comedy explores why differing opinions about art can ignite such intense conflict. It also asks the question: When a friendship is based on tacit mutual agreement, what happens when one person does something entirely unexpected?
As one critic put it; “Art is a thought-provoking and hilarious exploration of the complexities of friendship, the subjective nature of art and the impact of individual perspectives on relationships.” Or, to put it more simply, the moral of this play is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if you don’t happen to agree with the beholder, be extremely careful what you say.
Art received the Moliere Award for Best Play, Best Production and Best Author and ran for 18 months at the Comedie des Champs-Elysees, Paris, from October 1994. It premiered in London at Wyndham’s Theatre two years later, starring Albert Finney, Tom Courtney and Ken Stott. It won the Evening Standard award for Best Comedy of the Year.