“If you know exactly what you’re going to do, what’s the good of doing it?” ~Pablo Picasso
CINCINNATI, Ohio –The San Diego REPertory Theatre is reprising via Internet A Weekend With Pablo Picasso, written and performed by playwright-in-residence Herbert Siguenza. Scenic Designer Sam Moore recreates Picasso’s home in Cannes, France, 1957. We come upon Picasso while he is bathing and philosophizing in a clawfoot bathtub. It is awkwardly intimate, yet the artist himself seems perfectly at ease. He can be warm and thoughtful, but also impatient and prickly with outbursts from a hot temper.
“Every child is born an artist. The challenge is how to remain an artist once they grow up.” ~Picasso
A friend called Picasso “The King of Trash” because he was always finding treasures in others’ discarded detritus, repurposing things into new works of art such as a peacock made from a bowling ball, an oil can and a feather duster. And his very cluttered house is filled with these “treasures” waiting to be repurposed along with his paints, brushes, canvases, cleaners and such.
“Art is a lie that makes us recognize the truth.” ~Picasso
Usually, when actors portray artists, they just sort of play with dry brushes on finished canvases. But Siguenza applies real paint to blank canvases, mimicking Picasso’s style and recreating some of his works. His dealer calls. A wealthy American woman wants him to paint six paintings and three vases in three days. At first, he refuses. But she’s paying how much?
He’d take the capitalists’ money, but personally identified as a Communist. Horrified by the brutality of Franco’s Fascist regime in Spain, Picasso fled to France, vowing to never return. But then, friends fleeing the Soviet invasion of Hungary begged him to paint another Guernica. It’s hard to pick a side when both the right and the left are equally merciless in their carnage.
When you walk into a museum or a gallery, the artwork is very neatly displayed. But the studio of an artist tends to be messy. A Weekend With Pablo Picasso is more than a show about an artist. It’s a private, behind-the-scenes visit with the messy world of art, what makes it happen and why it pulls us in.
To watch Herb Siguenza’s masterful portrayal in A Weekend With Pablo Picasso visit www.sdrep.org.
And that’s Show-Biz!
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Eric George Tauber is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He specializes in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com