'Art' paints portrait of a fractured friendship

Friendship cannot bear very much honesty. That much is clear by the end of "Art," Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning play about three friends who have a falling out - an "apocalypse over a white square," as one member of the trio describes it - after one of them buys an expensive, abstract painting.

This droll one-act - in a nattily acted, crisply directed revival at Steppenwolf Theatre - has little to do with aesthetics and everything to do with relationships. "Art" is about the fine art of friendship. It's about the delicate balance act required to sustain it. And it's about the petty resentments, insecurities and irritations and the shifting alliances that can undermine it.

The play unfolds on Antje Ellermann's sleek, sophisticated set, which morphs seamlessly into each of the artfully minimalist apartments occupied by Reza's middle-aged, upper-middle-class aesthetes. There's Serge (a nicely defensive, subtly antagonistic John Procaccino), a divorced dermatologist whose purchase of an all-white painting by a little-known artist is greeted with hostility by the dismissive, domineering Marc (Elmhurst's Francis Guinan, whose nuanced performance suggests depth beyond the character's drollery). An aeronautical engineer with a penchant for the classics, Marc perceives himself as something of a mentor to Serge and resents his protege's newfound independence. Caught in the middle is neurotic, soon-to-be-married, stationery salesman Yvan (an effortlessly quirky turn by K. Todd Freeman, whose brilliantly executed riff on the wording of wedding invitations literally stopped the show). An accommodating sort, he finds himself mediating the ever-escalating confrontations between his friends.

Along with wringing every bit of dry bourgeois humor out of Reza's script, Wheaton resident and Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder - a steadfastly unfussy director - does a fine job of establishing the characters' uneasy amiability and their deep-seated vulnerabilities (Guinan in particular expresses Marc's in a quiet but absolutely authentic way). Observing their strained camaraderie makes one wonder what brought these men together. That they spend most of their time picking nits makes you wonder why they invest any effort maintaining their relationships. Frankly, over the course of 80 minutes, this trio of self-involved, self-important aesthetes and their petty bourgeois squabbles grow tiresome. And Reza's play has an air of pretension that might put some audiences off.

That said, Steppenwolf's production is eminently watchable, thanks in large part to its razor-sharp cast and a director who knows his way around prickly relationships.

As for the cast, the actors shift roles beginning March 14, when Joe Dempsey takes over for Freeman. Beginning April 7, Guinan replaces Procaccino as Serge and Ian Barford replaces Guinan as Marc.

"Art"

Location: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays and 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through June 7. No Sunday evening performances after April 19; additional 2 p.m. shows April 22 and 29, May 6, 13, 20 and 27 and June 3

Running time: About 80 minutes, no intermission

Tickets: $20-$70

Parking: $9 in the Steppenwolf parking garage

Box office: (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org

Rating: For adults, contains strong language

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/multimedia/?category=1&type=video&item=231">Clip from 'Art' </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>