The play Art was a huge hit in the late 1990s into 2000. Written by Yasmina Reza and first performed in France, it was translated by Christopher Hampton and opened on London’s West End in 1996 to huge acclaim and a string of awards.
It features three men who have been friends for 25 years but whose friendship is suddenly rocked by one piece of art. When Serge buys a huge white canvas, he expects Marc and Yvan to share his appreciation but is shocked to discover they don’t like it.
So much so that what begins as a discussion over a painting soon descends into a full-on argument in which all the hurts and slights of their decades of friendship bubble to the surface.
It’s been nearly 20 years since Art last came to Birmingham but it’s now on tour again with a cast featuring Nigel Havers as Serge, Denis Lawson as Marc and Stephen Tompkinson as Yvan.
And Denis is the first to admit that although he loves the play he’s not so sure the character of Marc is very loveable.
“Marc is a pain in the neck,” laughs Denis before trying to explain his character’s behaviour. “Marc is quite highly strung, I feel, a bit neurotic, intelligent and a little bit out there.
“But first of all, we have to remember that it’s originally a French play so the characters are French and Parisians. Marc thinks of himself as an intellectual and in France that is a very particular thing with so-called intellectuals held in very high regard. So Marc has this thing about himself as an intellectual and he’s very particular.
“The play is very much about the relationship these men have, this 25-year friendship, and because his great friend Serge buys a work of art which Marc disapproves of, they have this massive crisis of their friendship.”
And the differences in their characters emerges as the drama progresses
“It’s interesting that this is a play about male friendship written by a woman,” Denis observes. “In terms of the context of the play their relationship feels very real.
“It’s a very natural piece in a lot of ways. I mean how do we all view things? We all view objects or so-called works of art in different ways. From movies and plays to sculpture and art, we have different views on it depending on who we are. That’s part of being human.
“Art very engrossing. It’s not a long play, it’s about an hour and 20 minutes, but for actors it’s really very intense and full-on but also very funny. It just draws you right in because the writing is so good.”
Denis, first saw Art on the West End in the 1990s when the roles were played by Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott.
“I saw the play when it was first done and I thought it was wonderful then,” says Denis. “It never occurred to me that I might be in it though. But that’s what I love about this career, things come at you from left field and then you think ‘yes, I really want to do this’.
“I had never actually sat down and read the play but when they asked me to do it I read it and I realised it was such a beautiful piece of writing. For me, it always stems from the script itself so it felt like a natural thing to do. Saying yes was a very easy decision to make.”
Denis was also pleased to be working alongside Nigel Havers and Stephen Tompkinson.
“I knew Nigel Havers and Stephen Tomkinson and have a lot of regard for them both. I’ve worked with them both in the past – Stephen and I did a piece called Lucky Jim on television and Nigel and I worked briefly together on something called Brian Pern about an ageing rock band. In fact Nigel and I have gigged together – he was on keyboards and I was on bass!”
Nigel toured with the show in 2000 when he played Serge to Barry Foster’s Marc and Roger Lloyd Pack’s Yvan.
“Nigel has done this play more than anyone else in the world I think,” laughs Denis. “And that’s a tribute to the play. He just loves doing it. And I understand that. It’s a blast to do, it’s so satisfying.”
Seventy-year-old Denis first began his acting career in 1969 and has played countless varied roles from Shakespeare to Star Wars over the ensuing decades. Taking the part of X-wing pilot Wedge Antilles, he was in the three films of the original Star Wars trilogy and has appeared in television shows including Robin Hood, Hornblower, Marchlands, New Tricks and Bleak House.
But despite a long career in theatre, television and film, the spring tour of Art is the first time Denis has been on stage in Birmingham.
“I’ve worked in Birmingham a lot with Pebble Mill. I did a few television programmes in Birmingham and I’m very fond of Birmingham but I’ve never been on stage there so I’m looking forward to coming,” he says.
“We get this constantly when we tour – we walk into these fantastic theatres we’ve not been into before. It’s part of the interest in doing this, to walk into a new space every week – I’m really enjoying it.”
The national tour began in February and Art comes to Birmingham Hippodrome on May 21-26.
“The response so far on the tour has been wonderful,” Denis says “One of the pleasures of this play is that audiences really respond to it. It’s so funny we always get a really strong reaction. Every night it’s my character who starts the play and I just can’t wait to get going - it’s like getting onto a fast moving train.”
“I hadn’t been on stage for a few years now and I’m very pleased to be back on. And I’ve always had a thing about comedy. It was comedy which first drew me to want to be an actor – it was entertainers and comedians. So my favourite stage experience is comedy.
“To get up in front of 800 or 1,200 people and make them laugh a lot for an hour and a half is so satisfying. It is also quite hard though, I think comedy is the hardest thing to do because you have to concentrate so hard on keeping the timings and also keeping it realistic.”
With a work of modern painting being the catalyst in Reza’s play, the conversation turns to Denis’s response to art.
“I have bought original art and sculpture although nothing to the expense of this particular work of art which is huge. I do have one big slightly abstract piece which I’m very fond of,” says Denis. “Personally I quite like modern art. I go to a lot of different exhibitions which I enjoy a lot. I’m very drawn to the Impressionists and onwards from there.”
But Denis says his response to art might differ from his character’s.
“If one of my friends had paid a lot of money for a painting I would certainly say it was fantastic!” he laughs. “I would be very nice about it because what does it matter to me? I’m not going to go into someone else’s house and say ‘that’s awful, what have you done?’ I would never do what Marc does.”
Art shows at Birmingham Hippodrome on May 21-26, for ticket information see birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000.
The play Art was a huge hit in the late 1990s into 2000. Written by Yasmina Reza and first performed in France, it was translated by Christopher Hampton and opened on London’s West End in 1996 to huge acclaim and a string of awards.
It features three men who have been friends for 25 years but whose friendship is suddenly rocked by one piece of art. When Serge buys a huge white canvas, he expects Marc and Yvan to share his appreciation but is shocked to discover they don’t like it.
So much so that what begins as a discussion over a painting soon descends into a full-on argument in which all the hurts and slights of their decades of friendship bubble to the surface.
It’s been nearly 20 years since Art last came to Birmingham but it’s now on tour again with a cast featuring Nigel Havers as Serge, Denis Lawson as Marc and Stephen Tompkinson as Yvan.
And Denis is the first to admit that although he loves the play he’s not so sure the character of Marc is very loveable.
“Marc is a pain in the neck,” laughs Denis before trying to explain his character’s behaviour. “Marc is quite highly strung, I feel, a bit neurotic, intelligent and a little bit out there.
“But first of all, we have to remember that it’s originally a French play so the characters are French and Parisians. Marc thinks of himself as an intellectual and in France that is a very particular thing with so-called intellectuals held in very high regard. So Marc has this thing about himself as an intellectual and he’s very particular.
“The play is very much about the relationship these men have, this 25-year friendship, and because his great friend Serge buys a work of art which Marc disapproves of, they have this massive crisis of their friendship.”
And the differences in their characters emerges as the drama progresses
“It’s interesting that this is a play about male friendship written by a woman,” Denis observes. “In terms of the context of the play their relationship feels very real.
“It’s a very natural piece in a lot of ways. I mean how do we all view things? We all view objects or so-called works of art in different ways. From movies and plays to sculpture and art, we have different views on it depending on who we are. That’s part of being human.
“Art very engrossing. It’s not a long play, it’s about an hour and 20 minutes, but for actors it’s really very intense and full-on but also very funny. It just draws you right in because the writing is so good.”
Denis, first saw Art on the West End in the 1990s when the roles were played by Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott.
“I saw the play when it was first done and I thought it was wonderful then,” says Denis. “It never occurred to me that I might be in it though. But that’s what I love about this career, things come at you from left field and then you think ‘yes, I really want to do this’.
“I had never actually sat down and read the play but when they asked me to do it I read it and I realised it was such a beautiful piece of writing. For me, it always stems from the script itself so it felt like a natural thing to do. Saying yes was a very easy decision to make.”
Denis was also pleased to be working alongside Nigel Havers and Stephen Tompkinson.
“I knew Nigel Havers and Stephen Tomkinson and have a lot of regard for them both. I’ve worked with them both in the past – Stephen and I did a piece called Lucky Jim on television and Nigel and I worked briefly together on something called Brian Pern about an ageing rock band. In fact Nigel and I have gigged together – he was on keyboards and I was on bass!”
Nigel toured with the show in 2000 when he played Serge to Barry Foster’s Marc and Roger Lloyd Pack’s Yvan.
“Nigel has done this play more than anyone else in the world I think,” laughs Denis. “And that’s a tribute to the play. He just loves doing it. And I understand that. It’s a blast to do, it’s so satisfying.”
Seventy-year-old Denis first began his acting career in 1969 and has played countless varied roles from Shakespeare to Star Wars over the ensuing decades. Taking the part of X-wing pilot Wedge Antilles, he was in the three films of the original Star Wars trilogy and has appeared in television shows including Robin Hood, Hornblower, Marchlands, New Tricks and Bleak House.
But despite a long career in theatre, television and film, the spring tour of Art is the first time Denis has been on stage in Birmingham.
“I’ve worked in Birmingham a lot with Pebble Mill. I did a few television programmes in Birmingham and I’m very fond of Birmingham but I’ve never been on stage there so I’m looking forward to coming,” he says.
“We get this constantly when we tour – we walk into these fantastic theatres we’ve not been into before. It’s part of the interest in doing this, to walk into a new space every week – I’m really enjoying it.”
The national tour began in February and Art comes to Birmingham Hippodrome on May 21-26.
“The response so far on the tour has been wonderful,” Denis says “One of the pleasures of this play is that audiences really respond to it. It’s so funny we always get a really strong reaction. Every night it’s my character who starts the play and I just can’t wait to get going - it’s like getting onto a fast moving train.”
“I hadn’t been on stage for a few years now and I’m very pleased to be back on. And I’ve always had a thing about comedy. It was comedy which first drew me to want to be an actor – it was entertainers and comedians. So my favourite stage experience is comedy.
“To get up in front of 800 or 1,200 people and make them laugh a lot for an hour and a half is so satisfying. It is also quite hard though, I think comedy is the hardest thing to do because you have to concentrate so hard on keeping the timings and also keeping it realistic.”
With a work of modern painting being the catalyst in Reza’s play, the conversation turns to Denis’s response to art.
“I have bought original art and sculpture although nothing to the expense of this particular work of art which is huge. I do have one big slightly abstract piece which I’m very fond of,” says Denis. “Personally I quite like modern art. I go to a lot of different exhibitions which I enjoy a lot. I’m very drawn to the Impressionists and onwards from there.”
But Denis says his response to art might differ from his character’s.
“If one of my friends had paid a lot of money for a painting I would certainly say it was fantastic!” he laughs. “I would be very nice about it because what does it matter to me? I’m not going to go into someone else’s house and say ‘that’s awful, what have you done?’ I would never do what Marc does.”
Art shows at Birmingham Hippodrome on May 21-26, for ticket information see birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000.
By Diane Parkes