Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Or perhaps in the case of art, the buyer.
Tackling the question of what actually constitutes art is Janus Theatre Company’s season opener, “Art,” by Yasmina Reza. The 1998 Tony Award winner for Best Play runs Nov. 10-19 at Elgin Artspace Lofts in Elgin. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 6 p.m. Sundays.
“It’s about three friends. And one friend decides to go out and buy a painting — a very expensive painting — that to the naked eye looks just like it’s white,” Artistic Director Sean Hargadon said. “Another friend says, ‘you spent how much money for this piece of garbage?'”
With one friend having classic taste in art and the other favoring modern works, a third friend tries to placate them both, Hargadon said. The play is a breakdown of what art is and how works can be called art.
“It asks that question, but also when people start to disagree, they go into personal attack — which is something is really pretty prevalent in our culture,” Hargadon said. “Instead of working it out or finding common ground, it turns into personal attacks.
“It’s a comedy, believe it or not, but it’s got quite a bit of bite at times,” Hargadon said. “It’s interesting what resolution they come up with towards the end and how things are worked out.”
The production of “Art” is the first play Janus Theatre Company has staged at Elgin Artspace Lofts, a mixed use project that features 55 units of affordable living/work space for artists and their families, along with retail and community space for arts-friendly businesses and nonprofit organizations. The performance will take place inside the main gallery, providing an intimate space where the actors will work with and around the audience.
“It’s staged in a way where it’s almost as if the audience is a jury, and the actors are kind of making their cases of what they believe in,” Hargadon said.
The play, which runs about 85 minutes without an intermission, is appropriate for high school age and older due to language. It is the first show in Janus Theatre’s 19th season, which carries the theme “Inspired By….” The season looks to address some of the questions and concerns raised last year surrounding the removal of mural “American Nocturne” in Elgin.
In June 2016, “American Nocturne” was taken down from a public location in the city after it was discovered that the mural’s image represented a partial depiction of a lynching that was photographed decades earlier. While the actual lynching was not shown the mural, the scene depicted a crowd of people reacting to something out of sight of viewer. Once the inspiration for the scene became known, public meetings were held and the mural was eventually removed. It currently remains in storage.
More Top Picks Patio Cooler
“There was a lot debate and discussion on it,” Hargadon said.
There was a lot of back and forth and social media commentary on the matter, and not a lot of the discussion was friendly or nice.
“When you tried to engage in conversation, it got very difficult,” he said.
As a result, the controversy raised several questions, including what is art? Why and for whom is art made? And how do we talk about race? Each question is tied to a play that will be part of Janus’s season.
“One of the things from what happened last year and the discussion and debate about it is some people questioned if that is even art, if you’re taking something from a picture like that and repainting it. The other idea is why would somebody make something like this?” Hargadon said. “That gave us some ideas and questions about what to ask.
“The plays themselves don’t necessarily deal with the mural at all, but the questions are addressed in the different plays we’re going to present for the season,” he said.
By performing “Art,” the hope is to address the first question about what it means to be art.
“It has something new to say today. That’s why we wanted to tackle it and put it out there,” Hargadon said. “There’s a lot of funny in it, absolutely, but there’s also quite a bit of seriousness in it.
“What happens when you disagree with people you know? How do you find a resolution? What is art, what isn’t art? It’s a highly subjective term,” he said. “And what does it do with people’s relationships with each other, especially when you’re trying to find common ground?”
As the characters dive into the questions about art, they begin to explore their own personal friendship and what they think of each other. It raises the question of how do bridge the gap and find a way to compromise and come together?
“We’re not trying to say they’ll answer all of these profound questions in a 90 minute play, but it can spark conversation,” Hargadon said. “I think that’s what we should all do is we should talk about things rather than shut them down. Or if I disagree with you, I’m just going to shut them down. The idea is we should find someplace where we at least understand each other. Even if I disagree with you, we understand each other. That doesn’t always happen.”
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
‘Art’
When: Nov. 10-19
Where: Elgin Artspace Lofts, 51 S. Spring St., Elgin
Tickets: $18
Information: jtcart.eventbrite.com