Assembled player’s ‘Picasso’ enjoyable

There’s much good to be said about the Assembled Player Company production of “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” which runs through Aug. 28 in Belfast. Written by the 1970s stand-up comedian Steve Martin, “Picasso” is witty, provocative and brief. It runs all of 75 minutes with no intermission, and has become a favorite performance piece of small theaters.

Director and theater founder Gardner Howes took a liking to Martin’s writing last summer with “Wasp,” about middle-class family psychoses. This year, he has not only staged Martin’s most famous work but he also has assigned himself the role of an aging townsman in the show. (He took over the part when another cast member had to leave.)

As director, Howes does a dreamy job of bringing the characters to life. The story recounts a fictional chance meeting between youthful incarnations of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in 1904 at a pub in Paris. Or, as Martin writes, the show is “the night the earth fell silent and listened to a conversation.”

As conversations in bars go, this is a heady one, filled with high-brow philosophy, mathematics, culture and sex. The upshot has something to do with the convergence of shockingly packed “moments” at the onset of the 20th century. It’s rather exciting, really, if you think about it. And the question lingers afterward: Will there be minds the likes of Picasso and Einstein at the end of our century?

Howes doesn’t get bogged down with the semantics of the show. Instead, he presents the script with straightforwardness and honesty. Because the cast has a range of acting experience and skill, the humor doesn’t always have that Martinesque punch, and line deliveries can be annoyingly slow. But the show is largely enjoyable and entertaining with Howes leading the troupe. His own character, Gaston — a retired lover of ladies and virtual one-man Greek chorus — is the most lovable onstage, and Howes has both the artistic posture and subtle sparkle to pull it off. He’s warmly amusing and entirely real in the role.

Nathan Gaul, as Picasso, and Woodruff Archibald Gaul, as Einstein, are formidable in their own fashion. Brothers in real life, they have an organic naturalness together, and create a self-absorbed feistiness appropriate to the youth of their characters. There’s a stiffness to their acting that takes some adjusting, but once they win you over, they really have you, and the rest is simply a delight.

The woman who raises more than one eyebrow in the bar is played by Amy Robbins, whose pretty smartness serves her (and us) well. She has come to recover Picasso after a one-night stand and finds herself in the midst of an aesthetic debate. She gladly joins in and proves her own wiles. Later, Robbins returns as a countess, a cameo role that she nevertheless handles with tact.

Fitting this big-minded show onto the small stage at The Playhouse was a monumental task, but designer Phil Prince has crafted a set of dark wood, wall paintings and true “colour.” Strictly speaking, it may look more like a saloon than a salon, but by the end of the show, even that seems a little right for the spirit of things. The actors have to scrunch by each other from time to time, but the final effect is more of intimacy than claustrophobia.

The house fills up when more than about 35 people show up — and shows have been packed. If you are thinking of attending, reservations and an early arrival are recommended.

Just a mile down the road, The Belfast Maskers is wrapping up its summer season with a play that was equally popular and funny in its day. The old 1960s war horse “A Thurber Carnival,” by James Thurber, is a throwback to the pre-PC days of swinging life, literary stardom and good ol’ presentational storytelling. This play is so over in terms of dramatic charm that its only hope these days is as a museum piece.

To that end, director Diane Coller Wilson has taken a stylized approach to the production, using shadow lighting for scene changes and choreographing nearly every step the actors take. It’s rather fascinating to watch for a while, but 145 minutes of nearly 20 skits strung together with overly nice music is wearisome and plodding. Indeed, the show becomes languid and you might find yourself longing for a glass of champagne and some stilettos just to jazz it up a bit.

On a completely contradictory but very true note, the show also has some admirable theatricality. The ensemble cast works beautifully together and, as a whole, is confident and clever. Except for a few completely forgivable bungles, the eight actors — Gabe McPhail, Richard Tourigny, Meg Nickerson, Greg Marsanskis, Gussie Vaughn, Brian Ross, Lauren Murray, and Micheal Fletcher — deliver Thurber’s exposition with clarity and grace.

Most of the themes aren’t as funny as they once were, such as the one-liners: “My husband wanted to live in sin even after we were married” and “Why didn’t they repeal inhibition while they were at it?” But you might be able to get past that with an appreciation for the elegance of this production.

Wilson and Ross designed the set as a multitiered stage that invokes a more adult, cocktail version of “Laugh-In” with a splash of Lawrence Welk thrown in. In any case, it’s no surprise when bubbles show up. All the women wear party dresses and pretty hairstyles, and all the men wear tuxes. Brian Wilson, on follow spot, stays on task scrupulously, and pianist Ruth Gelsinger, while technically sure of herself, doesn’t add much zing to the show.

At this late date, it’s likely that the experience of reading “A Thurber Carnival” is both more interesting and more expeditious than seeing a live show. Thurber was a master with the old mother tongue, and, although no one really wants to speak or write this way anymore, it’s perfectly lovely to hear it. That’s reason enough to grab a cup of strong coffee and head for Belfast. And a final tip: Don’t leave at intermission. The second half is shorter and will get you giggling in a few places.

“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” runs 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday through Aug. 28 at the Playhouse, Church Street in Belfast. For information, call 338-3548. “A Thurber Carnival” runs 8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday through Aug. 29 at the Railroad Theater in Belfast. For information, call 338-9668.