REVIEW: Just As The Composition On Canvas Is Questioned, ART Examines The Foundations Of Friendships

Thursday 19th February 2026, 7pm, Roslyn Packer Theatre

Yasmina Reza’s Award winning comedy ART has started its Australian tour in Sydney.  Originally written in French, this production, directed by Lee Lewis uses Christopher Hampton’s English translation for a new staging featuring Richard Roxburgh, Damon Herriman and Toby Schmitz.

The premise is Aeronautical engineer Marc (Roxburgh) has been asked over to see his friend Serge’s (Herriman) new acquisition, a ridiculously expensive piece of Art.  What he is not expecting is a four feet by five feet white painting, which Serge, a dermatologist by profession, assures him has diagonal lines featuring on it.  While Marc is bluntly honest in his opinion of the work by a famous painter who also has paintings hanging in the Pompidou, Serge is offended and defensive, believing that Marc’s traditional and classical leanings mean that he cannot appreciate the work because he doesn’t understand the principles of the work.  Both men then try to get in the ear of their friend Yvan (Schmitz), a sales rep for a stationery company, but what follows is a fight that risks their 15 year friendship. 

While the audience is in roars of laughter at the absurdity of the purchase, which Marc describes as “a piece of white shit”, as the pretentious Serge keeps defending his purchase, the core of the work is actually the foundation of the friendships.  Serge has always been a bit “beige”, even down to his choice in suit and sockless loafers, while Marc is more of a ‘rebel’ black leather jacket, black shirt and jeans.  While Serge and Marc both appear to be well off and successful in their fields, Yvan coasts through life, a man-child in printed t-shirts, tracksuits and sneakers in a job created for him by his fiancé’s uncle with his main goal in life to be agreeably tolerant and therefore have no real conviction of his own.  They are an odd mix of personalities and opinions and taste in art. 

As set and Costume Designer, Charles Davis has made the characters clear while keeping the palette of the work relatively neutral, the main burst of colour associated with Yvan and his choice in art.  The first impression of the set is of a somewhat sterile gallery but Davis has incorporated different textures as he presents a space that serves as all three mens’ homes, with their personal tastes reinforced through the artwork they favour.  While the costumes have nods to 90’s the stage has a more timeless quality with elements that also fit a contemporary minimalist aesthetic. 

The core to the work however is the performances delivered by Roxburgh, Herriman and Schmitz.  There are some scathing dialogues as the friendships are tested and truths are revealed but the most significant moments are the monologues.  Mark and Serge appeal to the audience to understand their point of view while Yvan’s most significant monologue is to his friends but implying that they don’t really listen to him and he’s finally had enough and wants his voice heard.  Herriman is suitably whiny as the nerdy friend who wants to validate his social standing, previously by having a friend that by associate he felt would make him appear ‘edgy’, and now by being able to boast he’s got a painting by an acclaimed artist, no matter how absurd the art.  Roxburgh is commanding as the no holds barred ‘outsider’ who refuses to conform just to keep people happy.  Schmitz’s delivery of the desperate rant about mothers in law, step mothers and wedding invites is brilliantly unhinged in both pace, passion and physicality.

An examination of why people become friends and why people stay friends, ART should have all audiences considering what we value in the people around us and to consider whether we are asking too much, or does the other person even know the ‘role’ we want them to fill in our lives and the expectations we might place on that friendship.  It forces people to consider what happens if the role we though we were playing in another person’s life is not aligned with their expectations of us and is that relationship a solid enough foundation to survive upsets and changes. 

ART is Brilliantly funny and wonderfully enlightening and ridiculous all at the same time. 

ART - Roslyn Packer Theatre

Photos: Brett Boardman

Don't Miss a Australia - Sydney News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...