Ever walk into a modern art gallery, see a painting, and think, "I could do better myself?" Well, Yasmina Reza's play "ART" deals with exactly these sentiments over modern art. A character named Serge (played by Sam Wooten) has purchased a white-on-white painting for 200,000 Francs. His friend Marc (Jonathan Molitor) doesn't think very highly of the painting and criticizes his friend for spending a fortune for nothing more than an ostensibly blank canvas. Marc and Serge bring a third friend, Yvan (José Antonio García), into the quarrel by forcing him to take sides over the new painting, even though he could care less. Yvan, after all, is about to be married and has his own family difficulties to overcome. The three have a brawl and nearly lose their friendship. At the climactic moment, Serge offers Marc a marker. Marc draws a skier on the painting, and the three friends have dinner. The conflict is finally resolved when all three friends erase the drawing and retie their bonds of friendship, although on shakier grounds than before.
The IU performance, which opened this past Friday, had some extremely convincing acting. Wooten conveyed every bit of the elitism and self-congratulation characteristic of modern art lovers while remaining a rather bland professional, which is what Serge is. Molitor gave a wonderfully vivid portrayal of a fanatic who tries to impress his views on others without concern for their friendship.