But is it art? Divisive show at The Belgrade is a mixed bag

Aden Gillett, Seann Walsh, Chris Harper in ART (photo Geraint Lewis)

Art a comedy by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton. From 15 – 19 October at Venue B1, Belgrade Theatre. Times 7.30pm, matinees Thursday and Saturday 2pm.

Review by Annette Kinsella.

When I was young in the 1800s, before phones and social media, a highlight of our annual summer holiday was selecting postcards to send to the poor unfortunates left back at home. Usually the front featured a depressed donkey in a straw hat against a garish blue sky or an aerial shot of the bony finger of a pier stretching into the sea. Or – in the case of Morecombe – a sinister power station looming ominously on the horizon. (Very Threads) However, on one notable occasion, I bought a simple inky black rectangle. Tiny font at the bottom of the card proclaimed ‘Blackpool by Night’. Oh how we laughed. Little did I know that a similar blank canvas, this time white rather than black, would provide the focus for an award-winning play.

The canvas in question is the subject of Art, currently running at the Belgrade Theatre. Starring Chris Harper, Aden Gillett and Seann Walsh, the plot focuses on a piece of modern art bought for 200,000 euros by pseudo intellectual Serge (Harper), provoking fury from friends Marc and Yvan, and igniting a relationship-destroying row of mammoth proportions.

Aden Gillett in ART (Photo Geraint Lewis)

The action unfolds in the guise of a modern-day Emperor’s New Clothes, with Call The Midwife  star Harper playing the gullible king insisting that the painting is genius (‘It’s not white….it’s scored with GREY LINES’), and Gillett speaking out as clear-eyed sceptic Marc who cannot believe his companion has fallen for this ruse.  

I looked it up and although this show premiered in 1994 (and won the Olivier award in 1998), it still feels highly relevant, with the canvas a symbol for today’s all-pervasive social media, which sees public images as a curated façade of what people want others to think, rather than true reality.

Seann Walsh in Art.  (Photo Geraint Lewis)

The set itself was a work of art, with sections ingeniously extending and retreating to create domestic spaces representing the characters – maverick Marc had a well-stocked boozy hostess trolley, would-be aesthete Serge favoured fashionable minimalism, and Yvan lived in a generic man pad. The costume designer was similarly thoughtful – Gillett’s straggly ponytail and Status Quo waistcoat screamed 90s bohemian eccentric, Harper’s sharp blue Bowies-esque suit belied a peripheral culture vulture, while man of the people Walsh sported a style mish-mash. Top half Ronnie Barker shopkeeper coat, bottom half Man at John Lewis trousers - the sartorial equivalent of sitting on the fence.

Some sterling productions were put in by Gillett, delivering razor-sharp one-liners with Oscar Wilde-esque acerbity, and Harper very much on his dignity as the wounded highbrow turning the other cheek. Not all was rosy in the garden however – some of the dialogue felt flabby in today’s soundbite culture and, before he warmed up, Sean Walsh’s delivery made it hard to forget he was a comedian with a serious acting job, rather than the other way around. However, in the interests of balance I’ll give the verdict of my brother who loved it, finding the plot rapid and punchy and the fall and rise of the friends’ relationship fascinating.

Chris Harper in ART. (Photo Geraint Lewis)

In short, the show was as divisive as modern art itself. Not everyone loved Tracy Emin’s unmade bed but it didn’t prevent it making the Turner Prize shortlist in 1998. And the amateur critic who visited an 2023 Seoul museum installation consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall made their feelings very clear when rather than admiring the masterpiece they ATE it. (This person, incidentally, re-taped the banana peel after he’d scoffed it. What a legend). *

I’ll end with a quote frequently used by amateur art critics: I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like. Unfortunately for me on this occasion, this show didn’t quite hit the mark.

*Apparently the museum replaced the peel with a fresh banana following the incident. What killjoys. They should have kept it there as a commentary on consumerism.

For tickets: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/art/