Steve Martin's "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" or "Who is Gaston?"

Steve Martin certainly has a well-earned reputation for stand-up comedy. His many years of writing and performing skits on television's, Saturday Night Live, and subsequent film work, have given us ample evidence of his comic prowess. In Picasso at the Lapin Agile he flexes his comic muscles in a One Act play that is a humorous riff on Einstein's theory of relativity and Picasso's cubist manifesto.

The play takes place at the Lapin Agile, a Paris bar, where Freddy is the bartender. First, a 24-year-old Einstein walks in and lays out his as yet unpublished special theory of relativity in a bit of comic dialogue:
EINSTEIN
You see, I'm a theorist, and the way I see it is that there is just as much chance of her wandering in here accidentally as there is of her wandering into the Bar Rouge on purpose. So where I wait for her is of no importance. It is of no importance where I tell her I will be. And the least of all, it's not important what time I am to meet her. (Martin 9)

With the albeit tacit revelation of Einstein's theory, Martin exploits Einstein's notions of time, space, and relativity by, for example, violating the fourth wall (Freddy grabs a playbill from an audience member), and witty, double entendre exchanges between Gaston-an older man, Freddy, Einstein, Germaine-Freddy's girlfriend, and Suzanne (who's arrival introduces the subject of Picasso) wherein "things are not what they seem".

Then, Suzanne outlines how she met Picasso, which gives Martin time to have fun with Picasso's notorious egotism, narcissism, and cavalier attitude toward women. Whereupon, in walks Sagot, an art dealer who's just bought a Matisse-Picasso's rival for fame and acclaim. And now Martin has fun with Impressionism versus Cubism.

Next, in walks Picasso, who immediately steers the conversation to a discussion of him and his art. "[...] did you talk about anything else besides me?" (37) From here on Martin's television comedy writing background becomes all the more apparent: we're already halfway through this play and there is no subtext, plot or character development, dire need, objective, or obstacle to overcome for any of these characters. They're just hanging out at the Lapin Agile wittily espousing their theories, thereby allowing Martin to entertain us with notorious historical figures and their quirky personas.

The play is both entertaining and witty-laughs on every page. The introduction of each character propels the dialogue forward in meaningful and clever ways. But one character seems devoid of any purpose except to evince a prostate problem: Gaston, who always has to pee. He's not a "common man" like Freddy the bartender, or a "common woman" like Germaine, Freddy's girlfriend. So, what or who is he?

Since this isn't a play employing character development we may never know. Maybe Martin had an actor friend who needed a job? Maybe Gaston's a caricature of French stereotypes? It's a trifling detail to pick on, but one that left this reader puzzled.

Work Cited
Martin, Steve. Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1996.