ED2013 4/5 Reviews ED2013 Theatre Reviews

The Peculiar Tale Of Pablo Picasso And The Mona Lisa (Fourth Monkey)

By | Published on Monday 19 August 2013

A blank canvas is the backdrop of this minimalist stage, and lights from above stream onto the audience. We watch a young Picasso trying to find his artistic voice, to paint an object not as it appears, but as it truly is. Though the play has an intriguing, funny story – involving absinthe, prophetic women from Iberia, the theft of the Mona Lisa – what really makes this show magnificent is the visual. An ensemble of dancers frequently gaggles onto the stage, representing Picasso’s chaotic, flourishing, surrealist mind. They become painters, picture frames, or carry easels that dance like flamingos. The show’s overall aesthetic is somehow ‘askew’: jutting, angular, like tectonic plates, bringing to mind Picasso’s cubism. A stunning story of Picasso, shown the way Picasso might have seen it.

theSpace on Niddry Street, until 24 Aug, 6.45pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [Kyung Oh]



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