Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso square off to both whimsical and profound effect in Picasso At The Lapin Agile, Steve Martin’s delightful theatrical soufflé, now weaving its magic spell at the Ruskin Group Theatre.

Autumn leaves may be falling in Montmartre outside the turn-of-the-twentieth-century bistro that gives Martin’s comedy its title, but inside there’s an air of promise and hope for a future to be defined, not by governments, but by the science and art of great men like our two 20something heroes.

Albert (Ryan Stiffelman) is already putting the finishing touches on his Theory Of Relativity, while Pablo (Isaac Cruz) is just three years away from ushering in the era of cubism with his revolutionary Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

Still, it’s les choses du cœur that have brought the physicist and the painter to the bar run by Freddy (J. Teddy Garces) and Germaine (Amy Motta) this October evening.

Albert hopes to reacquaint himself with an attractive redhead with whom he has recently clicked, no matter that he’s set up their rendezvous at the Bar Rouge and he happens to be at the Lapin Agile. (You’d have to be an Einstein to figure out his reasoning.)

Pablo, on the other hand, has no idea he’s about to run into blonde sexpot Suzanne (Ashley Barrett), who’s none too thrilled that her two previous carnal encounters with the painter seem to have slipped his sexually overactive mind.

Observing all of the above with the wry amusement of a man who has had his fair share of liaisons is 62-year-old Gaston (Fred Deni), a formerly young Don Juan now more concerned with emptying his newly weak bladder than with romance.

Completing the cast of Lapin Agile regulars is art dealer Sagot (Jack Merrill), whose clients include both Picasso and his more famous rival Matisse, that is so long as the two artists agree never to paint either Jesus or sheep.

It soon becomes clear that Einstein and Picasso each believe his own particular gifts will be the defining ones in a century of profound change, and playwright Martin even has them fighting a duel of sorts, not with swords or pistols but with pencil and napkin, equations vs. art.

Then again, the future might belong to inventor Charles Dabernow Schmendiman (Hudson Long), who pops in briefly to reveal his latest stroke of self-proclaimed genius—a building material made of asbestos, kitten paws, and radium that can only be used in L.A. San Fran, and Tokyo.

Then again again, it might be the cult of celebrity that reigns supreme in the century ahead, that is if a pompadoured Visitor (Jackson Glenn) from the future is to be believed.

If it’s not already clear, Picasso At The Lapin Agile is something quite out of the ordinary, and at the same time precisely what you’d expect from a wild-and-crazy guy like Martin, including the actor-playwright’s patented whimsy (and some deliciously meta moments along the way).

Under Amelia Mulkey’s incisive direction, a pitch-perfect cast deliver one performance gem after another beginning with Cruz’s revelatory star turn as Pablo, a role he invests with abundant Iberian gusto and glee.

Fellow crazed geniuses Einstein (a delightfully zany Stiffelman) and Schmendiman (an irrepressibly wacky Long) are in equally adept hands as is Glenn’s sexy, hip-swiveling, Memphis-twangy Visitor.

A droll Deni in philosophical roué mode and an engagingly caustic Merrill are terrific too as is Barrett, so versatile that I did not realize that the same actress who’d charmed as the blonde, inexplicably French-accented Suzanne was the same who reappeared as a redheaded Countess and a brunette Female Admirer.

Last but not least are the dynamic Garces as An African American In Paris and the gorgeous Motta as his corseted partner in bartending.

The production itself could not look more splendiferous than it does on Ryan Wilson’s gorgeously elegant, meticulously appointed set, lit to vivid perfection by Edward Sala (who doubles as sound designer), and the same can be said for Michael Mullen’s stunning array of turn-of-the-20th-century costumes.

Paul Ruddy is casting director. Kevin Alain, Paul Denk, Austin Highsmith Garces, Brandon Lill, Joe McCain, Melissa Osser, David Andrew Salper, and Matias Salas Silva are understudies.

Picasso At The Lapin Agile is produced by John Ruskin and Michael R. Myers. Nicole Millar is production stage manager.

The latest in a long line of class acts from Santa Monica’s Ruskin Group Theatre, Picasso At The Lapin Agile will have you pondering the profound while feeling thoroughly enchanted along the way.

Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica.
www.ruskingrouptheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
March 12, 2023
Photos: Khue Cai

Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, Ruskin Group Theatre, Steve Martin