Review: ART at Theatre Artists Studio

Yasmina Reza’s ART is a scalpel disguised as a play—a cutting, hilarious, and painfully accurate dissection of friendship, ego, and the maddening subjectivity of taste. First staged in Paris in 1994, it bagged awards like the Molière and the Tony and cemented Reza’s reputation as a playwright who turns everyday interactions into existential crises. Her brand of dark comedy—razor-sharp, unsparing—shines not just in ART, but in God of Carnage and Life X 3, where human nature is stripped bare with surgical precision.

Set in a stylish Parisian apartment, ART presents a seemingly ridiculous scenario: Serge, a dermatologist with a penchant for modern art, drops a small fortune on a minimalist white-on-white painting. Marc, an aeronautical engineer and a man of sturdy, old-school tastes, is apoplectic over the price paid for what he unceremoniously describes as “shit.” Yvan, a hapless stationery salesman, is desperate to keep the peace. What begins as an argument over art spirals into a full-scale interrogation of personal values, identity, and the fragility of friendship.

Theatre Artists Studio’s production, under Carol MacLeod’s superb direction, leans into both the comedy and the discomfort, making the play’s exploration of personal taste and fragile egos feel strikingly relevant. If a friendship can unravel over a painting, imagine the fallout when opinions collide in the age of social media.

The three actors at the heart of the play—Dominik Rebilas (Serge), Steven Mastroieni (Marc), and Jason Isaak (Yvan)—don’t just perform; they ignite. Rebilas’s Serge is the kind of man who revels in his own sophistication, basking in the glow of his avant-garde acquisition. He wears his taste like armor, but Rebilas ensures that cracks show—tiny, fascinating moments where his need for validation seeps through.

Mastroieni’s Marc, meanwhile, is both critic and crusader, wielding his disdain like a weapon. He’s furious—not just at the painting, but at the idea that his friend could be so taken in by it. His performance balances biting humor with a tinge of desperation, hinting that Marc’s outrage may not be about art at all but about the slow, painful realization that he and Serge are no longer the same people they once were.

Then there’s Isaak’s Yvan, the show’s beleaguered peacekeeper. He’s hilarious, heartbreaking, and exasperating all at once—a man caught in a crossfire of egos, trying (and failing) to remain Switzerland. Isaak taps into Yvan’s core fear: the terror of irrelevance, of being the friend whose opinion is ultimately expendable. His energy ricochets between frantic diplomacy and existential meltdown, making every moment he’s on stage electric. And then there’s his solo monologue—a tour de force of comedic desperation—where he unravels in real time over his impending wedding, the impossible politics of invitations, and the soul-crushing weight of in-laws. It’s the kind of scene that makes an audience hold its breath between laughs, and Isaak nails every second of it.

The chemistry among the three actors is palpable, their verbal sparring as brutal as it is funny. Watching them, you’re reminded of how real friendships function: the jabs that cut too deep, the unspoken grievances that fester, the laughter that occasionally saves us from implosion. ART may be about a painting, but it’s really about us—our need to be right, to be seen, to be understood.

MacLeod’s direction keeps the pace taut and the stakes high, ensuring that Reza’s dialogue lands with maximum impact. The minimalist set by Maia Landau mirrors the stark simplicity of Serge’s controversial purchase—fitting, since so much of the play is about projection and perception.

Ultimately, ART is less about what we see and more about what we need to believe. Theatre Artists Studio’s production gets this, delivering a performance that’s as thought-provoking as it is wickedly entertaining. This isn’t just a play about art; it’s a reminder that sometimes, the things we love (or loathe) say more about us than they do about the objects themselves.

Running through April 13th, ART is a must-see—not just because it’s brilliant, but because it might just make you rethink every argument you’ve ever had about taste. And if you leave the theater questioning your friendships? Well, that’s just good art doing its job.

ART runs through April 13th at:

Theatre Artists Studio ~ https://www.thestudiophx.org/ ~ 12406 N. Paradise Village Parkway E., Scottsdale, AZ ~ 602-765-0120

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