When Serge buys an outrageously expensive painting, Marc and Yvan have plenty to say about it. Yvan thinks Serge is trying to buy credibility as a collector. Yvan is willing to agree with either friend just to avoid confrontation. The trio's barbs become downright barbarous. Arguments about the essence and value of contemporary art take savage turns to focus of the characters, intellects and imaginations of the three men and the people they love.
Resolution comes in an unexpected way.
French playwright Yasima Reza has written a wonderfully witty and insightful play, adroitly translated by Christopher Hampton of England. The duo has been rewarded with numerous deserved accolades. ART received the 1998 Tony Award for Best Play, the 1996 Olivier Award for Best Comedy and Moliere Awards for Best Play, Best Production and Best Author. ART is tightly written and so specific to the stage that it would be practically impossible to adequately translate it to any other medium. The Unicorn production, directed by Mark Robbins, took full advantage of the intimacy of the theater by treating the audience as participants in the drama.