The play opens Wednesday in Ball Theater with nightly performances at 8 p.m. through Saturday. Tickets are free, but should be reserved through the Box Office.
The play answers the curious question, “What if Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein met in a bar?”
It’s October 1904 in Martin’s riotous comedy, when Picasso and Einstein meet in the bar of the Parisian café Lapin Agile.
Both are convinced that they will be the ones who change the course of history — Einstein through his Special Theory of Relativity and Picasso through his art. Along the way, they are challenged by drunks, bartenders, servers, and a surprise guest.
Felicia Santiago and Elise Lockwood, actresses from DePauw University, are also outstanding. Santiago plays Germaine, who is the waitress at the Lapin Agile, while Lockwood plays three characters — Suzanne (a blond), The Countess (a red head), and A Female Admirer (a brunette).
Freshman Zachary Canon, whose character Charles Schmendiman thinks his invention of rigid construction materials will change the course of history beyond lesser scientific theories and art, blasts into scene after scene wearing a banana-colored suit with a showman’s knack of performance.
Patrick Kvachkoff appears late in a memorable performance as “A Visitor” whose name is never known, but whose presence shakes up the sleepy bar.
“Einstein and Picasso are young men on the verge of the world-shifting ideas that will define both them and the century to come,” said Director James Cherry. “They find themselves at a bar, where they debate the meaning of genius, art, science, and love — while contemplating what the future might hold for us all.
James Gross designed the set, Andrea Bear the costumes, and Laura Glover designed the lighting for the production.
Josh Lutton is the stage manager for Picasso at the Lapin Agile and D.J. Young is the assistant to the director.
Tickets can be reserved by email at boxoffice@wabash.edu or by calling 765-361-6411. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. and 90 minutes prior to curtain.