Yazmina Reza's Art at the Clark Art Institute
Williamstown Theatre Festival Reading Feb. 5
By: Charles Giuliano - Jan 12, 2010
In its first ever winter production the Williamstown Theatre Festival is collaborating with the Clark Art Institute, its neighbor, to present a single performance of a staged reading.
During the summer season Barrington Stage Company, in Pittsfield, is also scheduled to present the witty and provocative work. BSC is planning additional programming working with the local fine arts community.
With the proximity and critical mass of contemporary art museums this seems like an appropriate production to explore the question of minimalist abstraction. The first white on white painting was created by the Russian Suprematist Kasimir Malevich in the second decade of the 20th century. Many artists since then have challenged the limits of extremist abstraction.
Responses to such reductive abstraction range from admiration to contempt. The tale of the Emperor's Clothes is a frequent analogy. This play evokes all aspects of those familiar arguments.
Press release below
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Williamstown Theatre Festival present a staged reading of Yasmina Reza's
international hit Art on Friday, February 5, at 7 pm, at the Clark.
Hailed as "a remarkably wise, witty, and intelligent comedy" by The
London Times, Art is sure to tickle your funny bone and brain. Don't
miss this rare opportunity to experience WTF in the winter.
Reservations are required for this free event at the Clark co-presented by the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Clark. Call 413-458-0524 to reserve a seat (limit of four tickets per reservation).
When an art lover buys what is in essence a pure white painting for a horse-choking sum, his best friend goes ballistic, and a third friend
gets caught in the middle. This three man play questions the meaning of modern art and modern friendships and how they're sometimes not all that different. How would you feel about your best friend if he did something you thought was so colossally stupid, it made you doubt the very basis of the friendship?
Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2002 winner of the Tony Award for
Outstanding Regional Theatre, brings award-winning actors. directors, and playwrights to the Berkshires for a summer season of theatrical endeavor, revisiting classic plays with exciting new productions, developing bold world premieres, and offering a rich array of Festival events including Free Theatre, Late-Night Cabarets, readings, workshops, and educational programs. Renowned for its acclaimed productions, WTF is also home to unparalleled training and professional development programs
serving new generations of aspiring theatre artists and managers.
The Clark is a dynamic institution welcoming visitors year-round to
experience outstanding European and American art in a beautiful, rural setting in the picturesque Berkshire Hills. Opened in 1955, the Clark developed from the private collection of Sterling and Francine Clark, which continues to grow, now consisting of 8,000 objects, including 495 paintings and significant holdings of works on paper and decorative arts. The Clark is one of the few major art museums that also serves as a leading international center for research and scholarship.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown. The galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm (daily in July and August). Admission is free November 1 through May 31. Admission is $15 June 1 through October 31. Admission is always free for those eighteen years of age and under, members, and students with valid college identification. For more information, call 413-458-2303 or visit clarkart.edu