What Color is the Painting?

Ivan wants to be neither a point of reference nor a trendsetter. He is also not terribly concerned with the semantics that obfuscate the difference between what is Classic and what is Modern. He values resolution and reliable friendship above all.

It would be difficult to say the same of Marc and Serge whose heated discussions on whether Serge has purchased a "good" painting drive French playwright Yasmina Reza's Tony award-winning comedy "Art" on view at the Arts Barn Theater through Jan. 29.

This Montgomery Playhouse production will appeal to anyone who has an opinion on abstract art, while also catering to those who love a good argument that tests the bounds of friendship and self-perception.

Is the painting Serge has purchased actually just white-on-white? Does he now consider himself a collector, and more importantly, what can we make of his interest in Modernity? What is the painting worth in the eyes of his mentor and friend Marc, a self-described man of Classical taste? Is there truth to Serge's claim that the composition of the piece has an underlying system, which justifies its apparent voidness? Where does Yvan fit in? And what happens to friendship when value systems clash? How does one construct a comedy around a mostly white painting, and what, in the end, is its meaning?

Arts Barn children's art instructor created the painting for the play. Above all, she wanted to make it unique, so she respectfully declined director David Dossey's recommendation that she look at paintings created for past productions.

She produced an interpretation of the painting, adhering closely to its description in Reza's original script.

"I used a range of greys and even some red. I created the painting precisely as it was described in the script, almost the way I would do an engineering drawing. You can also see yellow, grey, slighltly ochrish lines," she said.

The most challenging part of the task was to paint white diagonal lines on top of a white background.

"I am proud of myself that I was able to paint white-on-white and make it visible to the audience," said Parris.

Now it's up to the audience to determine whether Serge, Marc and Yvan are looking at a white painting and tune into how much the ostensibly blank canvas can reflect back about their personal investment in one another vis a vis the contentious piece of art.

The play's run coincides with an exhibit of abstract and surrealist paintings by Audrey Salkind and Cassie Taggart on view at the Arts Barn through March 11, 2012.