Picasso review, Playground Theatre

How inspired for a new London theatre to open with a play about Picasso, a man whose creative and sexual power was so great he was still seducing women in his eighties. Talk about current. I'm sure it wasn't just me who cringed each time the painter kissed one of his muses on the small stage of the Playground Theatre. Of course, Picasso lived in a different age, and six months ago nobody would have raised an eyebrow at this production. It says a lot about the speed with which sexual politics are evolving, that there was a whole new layer of meaning to be traversed this evening.

Picasso was a genius of course. A rock star. Does that make it all right?  Is genius a good enough reason for seducing a girl who, at 17, is thirty years your junior?  The girl in question.  Maria-Therese Walter, remained loyal to the artist all her life. So it worked. Meanwhile, the artist's wife, Olga, would only learn of the affair when Maria-Therese turned up at her door with Picasso's baby. So much passion and drama! Yet Picasso fails to identify what made the artist alluring beyond his genius.

The hearts of the characters are missing in Terry d'Alfonso's script. There is a lot of declaiming and unhappiness, but little insight or tension and a total lack of joy. What we have is the artist, after his death, being alternately berated and beguiled by three of his muses, all of them young women. In contrast, Olga is portrayed as a wrinkly harridan in pieces of film that run behind Klara Zieglerova's simple and elegantly designed set - a big sun made of sand in which Picasso metaphorically and literally stands full centre.

In conclusion: Picasso is a challenging choice for an opening play. One looks forward to new surprises from the Playground Theatre. For me, Picasso doesn't hit the markers, but there is much food for thought. The food at the bar looked pretty good too. the actors are Michael Tate, Adele Oni, Claire Bowman and Alejandra Costa. Director Michael Hunt.


The Playground Theatre, 8 Latimer Industrial Estate, Latimer Road, W10 6RQ. Run ends November 25

Photograph: Scott Rylander