As Reported in…

                 The Script Review

                     The Newsletter for Playwrights and Producers

                      Volume III, Issue 8

Author: Alexander Barnett

Title: 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.