Art

Wanna buy some pegs Dave? Yes, I am a League of Gentlemen fan (if you're not, the above will make no sense whatsoever - and even if you are, I'm not entirely sure that it does anyway). When I saw that the League had been signed up as the next - and final - cast in the production Art at the Whitehall Theatre, I decided to go along. I didn't know a lot about the play - and I certainly wasn't expecting to see Tubbs and Edward wittering away in their Local Shop - so I did a bit of research after I'd booked my ticket (I'm no theatre buff, after all) and I went with an open mind. Art is a Parisian play and it won its playwright Yasima ...

I have wanted to see this play for some time, but had never got around to booking tickets. I'd often seen it advertised on the tube, always the same pictures - three soberly dressed men against a stark white background, spraycans in hand, the word 'Art' sprawled above them in huge, colourful letters. The cast is constantly changing, with actors playing the role for no more than a few weeks at a time, and this intrigued me. Most plays in London try to hang onto their famous actors/actresses in order to establish a reputation and ensure a good number of theatregoers, but 'Art' seemed to continually attract very reputable actors AND a constant ...

'Art' is one of those rare beasts, theatrically, an intelligent comedy which does not patronise the audience and allows you to laugh at the character's stupidity and intransigence, whilst recognising those stubborn characteristics which resonate a little in all of us. Perhaps we are laughing at those parts that we recognise in ourselves and our friendships. This play is a three-hander, and it is about a man who buys an expensive painting of a white canvas. The three men are all friends who have very different reactions to this piece of modern 'art' and the reactions typify their outlooks on life in a wider context. The 'work of art' ...