Picasso at the Lapin Agile

By Steve Martin

Directed by Kari Goetz

Sep. 16 – Oct. 9, 2022

Preview Performances: Sep. 14 – 15

Shimberg Playhouse, Straz Center for the Performing Arts

...As Goetz and her cast demonstrate, this isn't a mere curio. The play is inventive, amusing and passably thought-provoking. It certainly wouldn't be produced so often if it had been penned by an unknown playwright, but it would deserve to be. – St. Petersburg Times

In the fine, entertaining production now being offered by Jobsite Theater, author Steve Martin's charming comedy is skillfully presented, and the (fanciful) meeting of Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein is rendered like a beguiling joke told over brandy by a kindly raconteur. – Creative Loafing

It's a lively, f*ck everything, the-more-you-know-the-more-you'll-laugh kind of show. The play captures Martin's wacky outlook and fertile imagination, and the show is often hilarious ... a comedy so smart that it might as well have two brains. – BroadwayWorld (Nason)

a wonderful piece … thoughtful and animated … the comedy is well-done by all!” – Kulturspiegel

‘Picasso’ will leave you laughing your head off – Creative Loafing Tampa

[a] no-holds-barred, balls-to-the-wall performance … Kari Goetz and the team assembled a top-notch cast – BroadwayWorld (Eberhard)

A solid cast, strong direction and witty book make “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” a thought-provoking, highly entertaining piece of art. – Tampa Bay Times

In his first comedy for the stage, the popular actor and screenwriter plays fast and loose with fact, fame and fortune as two of the 20th Century’s legendary geniuses muse on humanity’s achievements and prospects as well as other fanciful topics with infectious dizziness.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile offers up a fictitious meeting in 1904 between Albert Einstein (age 25) and Pablo Picasso (age 23) in the Lapin Agile, a cabaret/bar and haven for artists, musicians, poets and philosophers in the Montmartre section of Paris.

This encounter occurs just one year before Einstein presents the special theory of relativity in 1905 and three years before Picasso revolutionizes art in 1907 with his new aesthetic reflected in “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.”

Picasso at the Lapin Agile presents a compelling examination of science and art and their impact on a rapidly changing society. The play moves with ease between the breezy and the profound, as the two men engage in a battle of ideas about probability, lust, artistic integrity and the future. Dancing a line between comedic and serious, the play’s exploration of art, physics, philosophy, time, space and relationships of all kinds excites a lively combustion of colorful characters and propels the observer to consider our desires for innovation, love and beauty.

Bystanders, including Picasso’s agent, his amorous fan, the bartender and his mistress, an elderly philosopher and an idiot inventor introduce additional flourishes of humor. The final surprise patron to join the merriment at the Lapin Agile is a charismatic dark haired singer time warped in from a later era.

Run Time

Picasso at the Lapin Agile runs 85 minutes with no intermission.

About The Playwright

Steve Martin began his career on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (1967-1969), for which he earned his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music in 1969. In the mid-1970s, Mr. Martin shone as a stand-up on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Martin’s films are widely popular successes and are the kind of movies that are viewed again and again: The Jerk (1979), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), Roxanne (1987), Parenthood(1989), L.A. Story (1991), Father of the Bride (1991), and Bowfinger (1999). As an author, Martin’s work includes the novel An Object of Beauty; the play Picasso at the Lapin Agile; a collection of comic pieces, Pure Drivel; a bestselling novella, Shopgirl; and his memoir, Born Standing Up. His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker. Mr. Martin is an accomplished, Grammy Award-winning, boundary-pushing bluegrass banjoist and composer who has won three Grammys for performing and composing. He has earned numerous honors including an Academy Award, five Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, the Mark Twain Prize, and the Kennedy Center Honor. Mr. Martin and Edie Brickell’s musical Bright Star premiered at The Old Globe in summer 2015, played a limited engagement at The Kennedy Center, and received acclaim in its Broadway run at the Cort Theatre. In addition to five Tony Award nominations, Bright Star received Outstanding New Broadway Musical and Outstanding New Score at the Outer Critics Circle Awards.

“Steve Martin's comic wit has never been sharper.

USA Today

A very engaging 75-minute shaggy dog of a comedy ... Mr. Martin has also created a number of moments of real humor and wit ... His manner is to so mix the sublime with the ridiculous that they can't be easily disentangled.

New York Times

Steve Martin is a gifted screenplay writer, and as Picasso demonstrated, a smart, facile thinker with a serious reach.

Variety

Production History

Jobsite first produced Picasso at the Lapin Agile Jan. 8 – 31, 2009, when it became our best-attended production to date. Jobsite also staged Martin’s Meteor Shower to great acclaim in 2019 and The Underpants a few years before that.

Giving Tuesday 2022

Nov. 10, 2022

#GivingTuesday is Nov. 29 this year, and we have a goal of $35,000 to help us close out our 2022 Annual Campaign. To help with

Donations to offset recent losses matched!

Oct. 1, 2022

Donations to help Jobsite offset recent losses are being matched through Oct. 10! Anonymous donors have stepped in with a $5,000 matched gift, meaning every $1

Passholders impacted by 9/28-30 closures!

Sep. 30, 2022

Important passholder update for those impacted by closures 9/28-30: in order to make an exchange to a remaining performance of Picasso at the Lapin Agile,

Hurricane Ian closures

Sep. 26, 2022

TFW you just can’t catch a break! Performances of PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE Wed. 9/28 – Fri. 9/30 have been cancelled in response to

Picasso paused and rescheduled!

Sep. 19, 2022

Because of illness, this week’s performances (Sep. 22-25) of Picasso at the Lapin Agile must unfortunately be paused and rescheduled. All tickets to those dates