I've written a new one-act comedy.
Cast of Characters for Still Life with Booze
Toulouse Lautrec: A man of remarkable psychological insight and abundant goodwill toward his devoted friend. He is understanding, witty, gay, lively and outstandingly original.
Paris - 1887
Paul Gauguin: Intelligent, virile, domineering and sarcastic, a born leader with an outrageous sense of humor.
Toulouse Lautrec: A man of remarkable psychological insight and abundant goodwill toward his devoted friend. He is understanding, witty, gay, lively and outstandingly original.
Camille Pissarro: Warm, intelligent, emotional and virtually ageless. Generous to a fault, he has no regard for material things.
George Seurat: Pompous, supercilious, opinionated, hypercritical individual. The founder of Neo-Impressionism.
Vincent van Gogh: Extremely passionate, vulnerable, high-strung. Totally uncompromising and completely obsessed with his work.
Paul Signac: A rabid follower of Seurat and, next to him, the most vocal theorist among the Neo-Impressionists. He is very quick to take offense.
Père Tanguy:
An excitable, adulatory man uncomplicated by conventions of any kind or
the wish to appear what he is not. He is simple, good, and satisfied
with only the best in art. He is the owner of an art supply store in
which most of the play takes place.
Reporter: A probing, clear-headed fellow rendered hapless by the overwhelming passions of these men.
The Script Review
The Newsletter for Playwrights and Producers
Volume III, Issue 8
Author: Alexander BarnettTitle: Still Life with Booze
Cast: 8 male, 8 total.
Scenic Requirements: Artist studio, gallery
Genre: One-act comedy
Plot Sketch: Introducing van Gogh to the artists of Paris, Toulouse-Lautrec proceeds to get them all drunk.
Vincent van Gogh visits Toulouse-Lautrec’s studio, admiring his work.
Lautrec speaks fondly of the whorehouse in which he spent three weeks
painting, and commends Vincent’s work, expressing outrage that Vincent’s
brother, Theo, has not arranged a showing. Lautrec mixes them a strong
liqueur, and leads Vincent on a trip to Tanguy’s, an art shop where the
owner/aficionado supplies paints in exchange for paintings. There
Georges Seurat lectures a reporter on Neo Impressionism theories and his
experiments in Pointillism. Camille Pissarro, and later Paul Gauguin,
listen in, making fun of Seurat’s pretensions. Gauguin brings Tanguy new
artworks to pay off his bill and coaxes Lautrec to break out the
bottles of alcohol he had been saving for the whorehouse. Pissarro
continues to deride Seurat, praising the impressionists that Seurat
snubs. Pissarro explains his theories of light and color, but is
challenged by Paul Signac, a supporter of Seurat. Pissarro and van Gogh
argue that the pointillists lack passion and Seurat expresses his
longing for a community of artists sharing ideas and costs. This rouses
Tanguy’s socialist convictions and he denounces the bourgeoisie. The
artists, growing intoxicated, toast their sponsor. Their discussion
grows vulgar, with Signac attacking Lautrec’s obsession with the
grotesque, and Gauguin recounting sex in the South Seas. Lautrec
prepares to move to the whorehouse, but discovers that all have passed
out.
Playwrights Premise: “With the masters I converse—their example fortifies me.”
Reader’s Response:
This is a fun conceit: throwing the great artists of the Impressionist
era into a room where they may postulate drunkenly is a delightful
introduction to the men behind the paintings. Beyond the principles that
influence their work, we explore the social and political dynamics that
shaped their perspective. One is taken by the comic attitudes and
interpersonal conflicts, outrunning the didactic qualities of any
historical narrative. The irony behind the piece is thick; as the
artists exhaust themselves attacking each other, we know that each will
achieve his own recognition, none more than van Gogh, who is virtually
ignored by his fellows. The dialogue is witty, and startlingly vulgar,
though one occasionally finds the theoretical clashes a bit forced.
Staging Comments: The character of Lautrec implies a physically unique actor. Framed paintings crowd the gallery walls.
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