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Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays
by
Steve Martin
America's most innovative TV and film celebrity achieves critical and popular acclaim as a playwright. An imagined meeting of Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein in 1904--when both men were in their twenties--Picasso at the Lapin Agile presents a compelling examination of science and art and their impact on a rapidly changing society. This collection also includes three dark...more
Paperback, 150 pages
Published
August 7th 1997
by Grove Press
(first published 1996)
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Steve Martin tricked me with this book of plays. They were so awesome and fabulous and funny and smart on the page that I thought I'd go see some of them, which didn't work out so well.
The first was really my own fault. Even if the play Picasso at the Lapin Agile was a witty philosophical rumination on the nature of art, science, the 20th century and human nature set as a conversation between Picasso, Einstein and Elvis over drinks perfectly executed on the page, I should have known...more
The first was really my own fault. Even if the play Picasso at the Lapin Agile was a witty philosophical rumination on the nature of art, science, the 20th century and human nature set as a conversation between Picasso, Einstein and Elvis over drinks perfectly executed on the page, I should have known...more
Picasso at the Lapin Agile is a collection of plays written by Steve Martin. The headliner, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, is stellar. It imagines a bar in France where one day Picasso and Einstein find themselves meeting & discussing their lives, their worlds and their ideas. A surprise guest at the end shows the two of them who is really in charge of human destiny. Other plays, WASP for example, are hilarious and equally deserving of top billing. Worth it alone for the conversation about hell bet...more
I decided to read this book after knowing Picasso at the Lapin Agile would be the school play this year. As I was reading this play there were many moments that I laughed out loud which doesn't happen very often when I am reading a book. Everything about this play is great and the comedy is brilliant. Steve Martin describes each character so perfectly and the reader falls in love with each one because all of them have different, peculiar personalities. My person favorite character is Schmendiman...more
This book includes "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" which was censored recently when my hometown high school in La Grande, OR tried to perform it under the directorship of Mr. Kevin Cahill. After much bruhaha, the school board decided not to perform it, and the local college, Eastern Oregon University, tried to follow suit when Mr. Cahill and the students turned to them. The Democratic student group petitioned the college and the play will indeed be performed, but without all of the prop...more
This is the most phenomenal book Steve Martin has ever written. I suspect a lot of people would be surprised by the poignancy and bereft tone the permeates through these plays. But you have to remember he also wrote "LA Story," and there are some utterly heartbroken and masterfully passionate parts in that movie.
This is Steve Martin unlike I'd ever seen before and remains my favorite thing he's ever given us.
This is Steve Martin unlike I'd ever seen before and remains my favorite thing he's ever given us.
In case anyone doubts the serious craft and intelligence that goes into Steve Martin's humor, they should read this stat. Lapin Agile is slapstick and wistful at the same time, sophisticated and erudite and witty but also accessible. It takes way more brains than I will ever have to put Picasso and Einstein in the same room and make it as hilarious as this play.
I always knew Martin is funny, but I had no idea how erudite he is until I saw a production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile. In it, Picasso, Einstein, and briefly, Elvis Presley muse on the similarities and differences between art and science. WASP is a darkly comic, biting commentary on the cold detachment of a modern family too proud or fearful to reveal their humanity to one another, even when that's what they want, and need, most desperately. Patter for a Floating Lady and The Zig-Zag Woman ar...more
This book was in fact very funny. I have a very bad sense of humor when it comes to laughing from a book, but I can say that there were some funny lines in the play. The idea of Einstein and Picasso spending the night at a bar and them having discussion about how they're going to change the century was amusing itself. But unlike other plays, where there's a big overall message, I didn't really get one from this play. I still loved reading it though, which makes me wonder, sometimes, you don'd ne...more
Picasso at the Lapin Agile is amazing; all the other plays strange or mediocre. I've seen Picasso performed twice, once by a good troupe and the other time by the worst actors I've seen on stage who were not in elementary school. Both times the play made people laugh because it is simply that funny. (Hell, it's Steve Martin). But a really good performance (or read) will show you the magical beauty of the play. In a style that is all his own, Steve Martin blends together anachronisms, one-liners,...more
Natasha
added it
i enjoyed this immensely. "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" is intelligent and funny and philosophical. there are astrophysics jokes! i didn't know those existed! anyway this is an excellent play, and i really want to see it performed one day. the major themes here are how we effect the passage of time, and the nature of genius.everyone effects the century in some way, whether you're Albert Einstein or Charles Dabernow Schmendiman. also everyone is a genius sometimes, one should constantly ...more
Four plays, including Martin’s most famous one. Overall, he’s a terrible writer, simply amateurish. But because he’s so clever and funny, there’ll be one or two lines in each play that almost salvage the mess that is the rest of it. The grand fault of all of the plays is that Martin has no concept of subtlety, so he beats an obvious theme into the ground. WASP is a cliché condemnation of WASP families – but the play’s contrived surreality seems too out-of-place (aliens appear in a scene for ...more
Two of the four plays here are throw-aways. WASP has hilarious moments but likely goes down as a failure. It's a good thing then that the titular play--which revolves around and encounter between Einstein, Picasso and a few friends at a bar--is not only hilarious but clever in the best of ways. Read the first play and the first section of WASP, skip the rest, and walk away thinking better of Banjo Boy.
Self-aware, tongue-in-cheek, and a bit of a farce, but sweet and full of intellectual fire and movement. Some of these plays are magical (literally and figuratively), some are absurd, but all are thoughtful and enjoyable. In the titular play, Picasso remarks, "I want to leave the world littered with beauty." Steve Martin has littered these plays with beauty and humanity, in his skewed and subtle way.
I first caught the play, and was prompted to lay my hands on the book (which involves a longer story of how this became the first ever book I Flipkarted).
Picasso meets Einstein. Art meets Science. (With a whole lot of laughs thrown in).
The first steps to bridging the art-science divide in my head- the way you feel, at the end of it all, is the same for both.
Picasso meets Einstein. Art meets Science. (With a whole lot of laughs thrown in).
The first steps to bridging the art-science divide in my head- the way you feel, at the end of it all, is the same for both.
Martin's absurdist piece at times succeeds at being merely madcap, Now madcap can be many things -- it can bring to mind the wildly ridiculous Marx Brothers movies of the 1930's or the sophisticated wit of William Powell and Myrna Loy ala The Thin Man. Martin gives us a little of both, with just a hint of existentialism thrown in for good measure. He mixes real life-characters like Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein (with a brief cameo by Elvis) and a collection of local Parisian eccentrics....more
'Picasso at the Lapin Agile' is a very quick read. It's almost written as if it's an extended 'Who's on First?' joke and it really works well in this setting at the Lapin Agile in 1904 with Picasso, Einstein, and other colorful characters that enter along the way. I found it be a very enjoyable read and Steve Martin definitely has a flair for writing for the stage that more people should have the chance to read or hopefully see on stage.
I am slowly working my way through this book. Steve Martin write very differently than I imagined. Due to his exuberant personality, I thought his writing would be similar, but it is very eloquent, and understated. It is lyrical, but has not drawn me in.
While PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE is the strongest of the plays in this collection, there's something to admire about all of them. Steve Martin brings a certain level of humor and wit that you'd expect from him if you're familiar with his writing, and all of his plays are quick, enjoyable reads.
Out of the four plays featured in this book, "Picasso" is definitely the best. I love how Steve Martin focuses on the relationships of people. I wish I could see one of his plays on stage! They are so well written!
I bought this like 2 years ago & am finally getting to it. Should be done by Christmas.
Really enjoyed the title one-act. I'm considering directing it as the next dinner theatre show here in town. Since we do it in a pub, it seems perfect.
The other pieces are a bit strange, but have merit.
Really enjoyed the title one-act. I'm considering directing it as the next dinner theatre show here in town. Since we do it in a pub, it seems perfect.
The other pieces are a bit strange, but have merit.
Steve Martin always seems to speak on 2 levels - a surface one and a deeper one. "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" is one of my favorites - the other plays are entertaining but a little off.
Steve Martin is not only one of my favorite people, but one of the best playwrites in my opinion. I saw Picasso at the Lapin Agile about three times when it was in town in high school.
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Please don't write this play off-- it doesn't succeed *despite* Steve Martin's authorship-- Martin is a talented, sharp writer, and he made a beautiful work.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile -- Steve Martin puts Picasso and Einstein in a bar and takes them on a grand mental exploration.
It's a solid play. I wanted to like it more than I did. Favorite Quote, "I could dream it forever and still not do it, but when the time comes for it to bee done, God, I want to be ready for it."
Steve Martin is amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this play which is quirky and really good at the same time.
An absolutely wonderful collection of short plays written by Steve Martin. Picasso at the Lapin Agile is sooo amazing.
Sarah
marked it as to-read
I saw this performed at a fabulous local theater company, and I loved it. Can't wait to read it myself.
Steve Martin rarely disappoints. I really enjoyed this play. It was funny, interesting and unexpected.
While there were moments of humor and insight, overall, I found the plays a bit dull.
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Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician, and composer. He was raised in Southern California in a Baptist family, where his early influences were working at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and working magic and comedy acts at these and other smaller venues in the area. His ascent to fame picked up when he became a writer for th...more
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“Yeah, well, we're all writers, aren't we? He's a writer that hasn't been published, and I'm a writer who hasn't written anything.”
—
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“I could dream it forever and still not do it, but when the time comes for it to be done, God, I want to be ready for it, to be ready for the moment of convergence between the thing done and the doing of it, between the thing to be made and its maker. At that moment, I am speaking for everyone; I am dreaming for the billions yet to come; I am taking part of us that cannot be understood by God, and letting it bleed from the wrist onto the canvas. And it can only be made, because I have felt these things: my lust, my greed, my hatred, my happiness.”
—
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