Balaban, Cox, Perry Star In ART At LA Theater Works 4/15-4/19

Bob Balaban (Waiting for Guffman, Gosford Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Midnight Cowboy), Brian Cox (Bourne Supremacy, X2, Manhunter - here reprising the role he played on Broadway) and Jeff Perry (Grey's Anatomy, Nash Bridges, Broadway's August: Osage County, co-creator of Steppenwolf Theatre) star when L.A. Theatre Works records Yasmina Reza's Olivier and Tony Award-winning comedy, 'ART' for broadcast on LATW's nationally syndicated public radio theater series, The Play's The Thing. Emmy nominated Peter Levin (Chicago Hope, Judging Amy, Lou Grant) directs five performances at the Skirball Cultural Center April 15 - 19.

'ART' is a heady and hilarious look at the bonds of male friendship, viewed through the prism of modern art. Three old friends square off over the merits of a recently purchased painting. Their friendship is put to the test as the arguments quickly go from theoretical, to personal, to confrontational. With relationships hanging in the balance, the question becomes: how much is a painting worth?

When it premiered in Paris in 1995, 'ART' garnered two Moliere Awards, France's most prestigious drama prize. It was translated into English by Christopher Hampton, winning the Tony Award for Best New Play in 1998. 'ART' also enjoyed a six-year run in London, winning a Laurence Olivier Award for Comedy - which greatly surprised Yasmina Reza: "I thought I had written a tragedy," she said. Indeed, this seeming paradox highlights one of the intriguing aspects of 'ART'; while theater scholars and critics worldwide have been nearly unanimous in their praise of 'ART', they continue to analyze and debate what it is really about - the meaning or value of art, a rejection of modernism, the nature of friendship, the politics of aesthetics, or the creative process itself? And while there are certainly laughs to spare in 'ART', underneath the characters' wit and self deprecation are basic human yearnings for meaning and connection, which accounts, in part, for its universal appeal.

Yasmina Reza is a French playwright, novelist and actress best known for her satiric plays that speak to contemporary middle-class anxieties. Her play, God of Carnage, recently opened to stellar reviews on Broadway with James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis. The first two plays she wrote, Conversations apres un enterrement ("Conversations After a Burial") and La Traversee de l'hiver ("Winter Crossing") were each the winner of a Moliere Award. Other plays include L'Homme du hazard ("The Unexpected Man"), Life x 3, and Une Piece espagnole: theatre ("The Spanish Play"). Reza's other writings include the novel Hammerklavier; a French translation of an adaptation of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis for the filmmaker Roman Polanski; and two screenplays, including Le Pique-nique de Lulu Kreutz ("Lula Kreutz's Picnic") for a film directed by her companion, Didier Martigny. Her later novels include Une Desolation and Adam Haberberg. In 2007 Reza showed her broad range of talent with the publication of L'Aube le soir ou la nuit ("Dawn Evening or Night"), a detailed biography of Nicolas Sarkozy as he ran for president of France. Reza was given almost unlimited access to a man she saw as talented and power-driven during the time she followed him on the campaign trail, chronicling both his public and his private life.

For three decades, L.A. Theatre Works has been the leading radio theater company in the United States, committed to using innovative technologies to preserve and promote significant works of dramatic literature and bringing live theater into the homes of millions. LATW's radio theater series, The Play's The Thing, airs weekly on 89.3 FM KPCC Southern California Public Radio, and is streamed on the KPCC website for one week following each broadcast. The series can also be heard on 89.7 WGBH in Boston; 91.5 FM WBEZ in Chicago; 94.9 KUOW in Seattle; 93.5 FM KRTS "Marfa Public Radio" in Texas; 90.5 FM KUT in Austin; 88.9 FM KUNM in Albuquerque; 91.5 FM, Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan; 94.1 KPFA in Northern California; 91.1 FM KRCB in Sonoma County; 89.1 KUOR in Redlands; as well as on many other public radio stations nationwide. Selected programs from LATW are also heard internationally over BBC World Service, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Telefis Eirann (Ireland), Radio Hong Kong, and Radio New Zealand.The L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection is available in bookstores, libraries, through their catalog, digitally on itunes, overdrive.com, audible.com, and on the L.A. Theatre Works website at www.latw.org.

Performances of 'ART' take place on Wednesday, April 15 at 8 pm; Thursday, April 16 at 8 pm; Friday, April 17 at 8 pm; Saturday, April 18 at 2:30 pm;and Sunday, April 19 at 4 pm. Tickets range from $20.00 to $48.00. L.A. Theatre Works at the Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Santa Monica Mountains (exit Skirball Center Drive). For tickets and information, call the L.A. Theatre Works box office at (310) 827-0889 or go to www.latw.org.

WHEN:
Wednesday, April 15 at 8 pm
Thursday, April 16 at 8 pm
Friday, April 17 at 8 pm
Saturday, April 18 at 2:30 pm
Sunday, April 19 at 4 pm

L.A. Theatre Works
at the Skirball Cultural Center*
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
*Please note: all links should point to L.A.Theatre Works - the Skirball is only the venue and is not producing this event.

L.A. Theatre Works Box Office (310) 827-0889 or www.latw.org

TICKETS:
$20.00 to $48.00

L.A. Theatre Works' radio theater series, "The Play's the Thing," airs locally every Saturday night from 10 pm to midnight on 89.3 KPCC, and is streamed on the KPCC website (www.kpcc.org) for one week following each broadcast. The series can also be heard on public radio stations throughout the country. The L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection is available in bookstores, libraries, through their catalog, digitally on audible.com, itunes.com, and on the L.A. Theatre Works website at www.latw.org.