It takes a certain courage to call a work ‘Art’ but for playwright Yasmina Reza it was the most pointed label for her award-winning comedy. Though whether art is just a MacGuffin in Reza’s play is a point of debate – which is also fitting because debate is what drives the action of this comedy.

Art centres on three long-time friends – Serge, Marc and Yvan – and opens with Serge taking home a large, expensive snow-white painting. Marc, the oldest of the three and something of a connoisseur, is appalled and makes it clear he doesn’t regard the monochromatic rectangle art at all. When the subsequent debate between him and Serge becomes heated, Yvan steps in as conciliator – but that leads to a lot more exposure than just whether the pale canvas is art or not.

The Hong Kong Repertory Theatre is staging the French play this month, and director Weigo Lee says more than performance art about visual art, Reza’s work is a look at the dynamics of male friendships. “The subject of the discussion in the play could be stereos, computers or whatever,” he says, and the three-time Best Director believes the underlying reasons the friends argue are really what this play is all about. “They try to redefine their identities and their value judgments through debating with each other,” he points out.

But a landscape of redefining identities implies change in relationships – so is Reza in fact taking a smiling glance at the shifting plays in male bonding? Those in the cast have their own views. Chow Chi Fai, who plays Marc, is pragmatic when says his character often sees himself as Serge’s artistic mentor, and that’s why he feels hurt when his protégé opts for a modern painting over the classical art Marc has appreciated all his life. He feels betrayed and abandoned. “The three characters are actually very lonely, and Marc is an extremely stubborn person,” he says. “He is so stubborn he doesn’t even allow his friends to change their taste in art. I don’t think he would have many friends in
his life.”

But Sun Wai Keung, who plays the moderate Yvan, or “likeable failure” as the character describes himself, has a different view. “I think he is a very complicated person. He doesn’t realize he is getting old, and what he stands for is now considered old fashioned,” he suggests. “So he thinks he is neglected by the rest of the world.”

Poon Chan Leung, who will take the stage as Serge, is more certain a revolution of taste means mutations in the relationships of the play’s three characters. “Often we need money, power or a piece of expensive art work to give us a sense of security. Sometime we even need friendship to secure ourselves,” he says. The theatre veteran calls on his real-life experience to back his point. He says he identifies strongly with Marc – he too is often suspicious and likes to question everything. Though he goes on to concede “Ultimately, the reason why they have such a fight is very positive – they are trying to keep their friendship.”

Since Art premiered in Paris 13 years ago, it has been staged in 36 languages and won many awards, including a Tony and the Moliére Award for Best Drama. Weigo Lee finds it interesting it took a woman to
write a play so wickedly perceptive and humorous about the hearts of men. “At first I found it a bit weird,” he smiles and recalls something he read in an interview with Yasmina Reza. “She said she doesn’t really understand men that well, but she observed all the elements that appear in the play in men’s daily lives.”

One critic complimented the play that, like art itself, Reza’s work is “universal and all encompassing”. The cast cannot agree more. “It addresses issues in human nature so smartly,” Chow Chi Fai says. “No audience will be able to nod off even though the play is mainly dialogue.”

Art will be performed from Mar 23 to Apr 8 at Shouson Theatre, HK Arts Centre. Shows start at 7:45pm and 2:45pm on Mar 31, Apr 1 and 4. All shows with Chinese and English surtitles. Show on April 3 with English and French surtitles.