| What: ART by Yasmina Reza Director and designer: Marthinus Basson Stage manager and lighting designer: Nicolaas de Jongh Assistant stage manager: Jean du Plessis Cast: Wilhelm van der Walt, Wessel Pretorius and Ludwig Binge Producer: A KKNK production with development support from NATi When: September 1 -12, 2026 Where: Baxter Flipside, Cape Town Language: English-Christopher Hampton’s translation, from the French. Kuns – an Afrikaans language production was staged by the same team Bookings: Webticket |
Art by Yasmina Reza in Cape Town, September 206, is exhilarating theatre – tender, hilarious, relatable. The genius of Marthinus Basson (director/designer), the pure magic of the performers: Wessel Pretorius, Wilhelm van der Walt and Ludwig Binge. The lighting by Nicolaas de Jongh wraps around and sparks moments of connection and disconnection. It is a searing mediation on friendship and the convolutions of relationships in general.
The play, first staged in French, Paris in 1994, won numerous awards. This production was staged recently at the KKNK – in Afrikaans – with Marthinus Basson at the helm as director/designer and the same cast. After winning awards, the team seamlessly slid into English for this season at the Baxter. They are using Christopher Hampton’s translation – from French to English.
Same production, set, lighting, actors, director. Different venue – the Baxter Flipside – the backside of the Pam Golding Theatre– and the production has been flipped in language and space but there is an Afrikaans sensibility. I did not see the production at KKNK. The actors use their own accents – tinged with echoes of Afrikaans pronunciation – but which could be termed as “international” diction. These three men could be anywhere. The setting is in Paris, as Reza had it and the aesthetic is a casual sophistication, which is a great fit with the triggering premise of the story: A modernist white painting about “nothing” which de-rails a 15 year old friendship, between three friends.
The play is not “about” art – the deconstructionist blah, blah, of what we consider art. The script (yes, I have read it) takes a withering look at communication and how people talk at each other – rather than with each other. It is about the art of conversation which shapes our friendships and relationships. In this situation, it is three men and their perceptions of masculinity, success, stature etc obviously come into the picture.
Reza wrote the play in 1994, when she was 35 and was inspired by a friend who bought a painting which she thought was lunacy. There is a fair amount of chit-chat on modernism and art, which could have dated the play, but Reza’s writing is hilarious. She uses words as scalpel, slicing and dicing through the protagonists as they jibe and prod each other. That is a delicious and entertaining part of the script. We laugh at the pomposity and verbosity of Serge (Ludwig Berg), the dermatologist who is toting out his acquisition, as a status symbol, whatever. The painting is a disruptor of the 15 year old friendship, which usually involves a convivial get-together with consumption of nuts and olives, and maybe a movie – a good time. This is not a good time.
Marc (Wessel Pretorius) cannot abide by this painting, this interloper which has intruded on their threesome of mate- hood. Marc is an aeronautical engineer and knows everything. Ivan (Wilhelm van der Walt) is the nebbish, the class clown. He is the fool who props them up. He is a blank canvas for the explosive Serge and Marc. Ivan is about to get married. He is middle aged, anxious and nervous and works in his new job in stationery – supposedly an improvement on his previous job in textiles. The appointment is tied in to his marital and family connections. Family relationships linger as a palimpsest in this play – and production – vividly textured by Basson’s minimalist set design – anonymous urban-corporate – activated by the entrances and exits of the painting.
The magic of this production is the burning energy between the trio of performers as they circle around each other, physically and emotionally; through Reza’s blisteringly brilliant script and through the use of exquisitely crafted movement, gesture, grimaces, yelps.
It is brutal what occurs on this stage; in this production. It is a battle ground. Marc cannot and will not let go of his revulsion over Serge’s baby (it is a proxy for his family, which he is divorced from). Ivan, the nebbish, just wants to please everyone. He tries to take a neutral stance, to stay out of the way of the others, to keep the peace. Yvan: “You want to implicate me. I refuse, what does it have to do with me? I’ve already got a burst eardrum, you work things out for yourselves!” Whoa – poor Ivan – shame. Serge, the alpha narcissist to Ivan: “And your inertia, your sheer neutral spectator’s inertia has lured Marc and me into the worst excesses.”
Friendships and relationships can be decimated by differences in opinion on politics religion and whatnot and the absolute refusal and inability to see other perspectives. Overheard, recently: “Well, we will agrees to disagree”. The retort: “No, it doesn’t work that way”. Actually it does. Yes, Reza teases out an absurd evocation of a disagreement – and it makes for delicious and hilarious theatre. This play; this brilliant production, speaks to the death of the art of conversation in contemporary times.
No phones or screen devices are used in this production. It pings in period, as a 90s story but leers into our present. In 2026, the Friends Group is on WhatsApp as its primary get-together. People shout and scream at each other via capital letters, emojis, links to podcasts and pauses – taunting others – x is typing – and they then leave the group when pissed off and/or block people. And the Admin tries to calm everyone down. Ivan is the Admin is this eviscerating play which is a call out to cherish friends and family – and not to get in a knot about polemics. I loved this production. I could see it again – 90 minutes flies by. It is hilarious, immersive and utterly entertaining. Bravo to Basson, the cast and creative team.
✳ Featured image: Ludwig Binge, Wilhelm van der Walt, Wessel Pretorius in ART by Yasmina Reza, designed and directed by Marthinus Basson, September 1 -12, 2026, Baxter Flipside, Cape Town. Pic: Hans van der Veen.
Wilhelm van der Walt, Ludwig Binge and Wessel Pretorius in ART by Yasmina Reza, designed and directed by Marthinus Basson, September 1 -12, 2026, Baxter Flipside, Cape Town. Pic: Hans van der Veen.
