THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
SUN 11 APR 1999, Page 177 
Matters of the art 
By PAUL LePETIT 

Art, by Yasmina Reza (translated by Christopher Hampton)
At: The Theatre Royal last night.

Just three friends and a work of art.

Or is it? And are they?

Art, the play, deliciously frames two themes at once; one is the way the world looks at modern art. The other is the way the 
world views friendship.

For when Serge (Geoff Morrell) pays 200,000 francs for a white painting with some white stripes on it, his two best friends 
are askance.

Marc (Tom Conti) -the arrogantly opinionated one -declares his hand immediately.

Yvan (David Wenham) does nothing to offend, which in this explosive tripartite relationship means he is bound to offend 
sooner or later.

And so begins this arch, funny and acerbic tag-wrestling match of a play.

The friends spin through various rounds, changing teams, opinion and the truth as it suits.

This production (director, Rachel Kavanaugh) even though it was blessed with some opening night uncertainties, gets the two 
hearts of the matter beating with some individual style.

One suspects that although it is really an ensemble piece, it would be a much lesser ensemble without the contribution of 
Tom Conti.

His ravaged face and his cynical eyelids drooping with contempt for at least half of the world background a stunning and 
artful performance.

His character is the catalyst for the entire evening, winding the others up, settling them down and being provocative in 
a way that veers from charming to chilling.

But both Geoff Morrell (a very polished performance for a late arrival to the cast) and David Wenham do only brilliant 
things as well.

In fact the 10-minute uninterrupted diatribe from Wenham on a series of potential wedding disasters is almost worth the 
price of admission alone.

This is very fine theatre, hugely entertaining but looking at some important issues at the same time.