ArtsUCL’s new production ‘ART’, a rendition of the 1994 play written by Yasmina Reza, criticises and deals with reception of culture and artwork in our time — and it’s one that director Tumo Reetsang hopes will start conversations about the value of art as well as the intersections of identity.
The play follows three friends — Marc, Serge and Yvan — squaring off over a hundred-thousand euro, all-white canvas with white diagonal lines. A dispute about the modern painting soon spirals into cutting, deeply personal confrontations. The fight pushes their friendship to the brink, but what follows makes clear how strong their connection remains.
How did they collaborate on this production?
Intrinsic to the production is the perfectly merged team, especially at the formative stage. Tumo told The Cheese Grater that staying focused on the original play, and understanding the bare bones of the script, characters, and even why it was written, allowed them to build it up.
“A lot of this process has been a conversation,” Angelina Paz-King, playing Serge, comments, where having the internal debate about their own views on art has been central to the performance. Charlie Raven, playing Yvan, states the impact of putting personal thoughts and touches into the play, whilst having a unified image.
With only three actors on stage, how do they keep the tension and interactions evolving?
The cast is small, with only three characters, but the team hopes for a mighty impact upon their audiences.
When asked how the actors attempt to keep tension and movement on stage, Enyu Hu, playing Marc, dedicates this to the script: “The three characters are innately leveled against each other”, he says. The conflict is embedded in the script, and can thus be brought to life by the actors.
Angelina adds that the chemistry between all of them took off from the get-go. Working well together allowed them something to build their characters’ friendships off of.
Associate director Ayushi Bhanja added that the benefit of a three-actor show was that it gave them the space to sit down and truly hammer out how each crew member feels about a specific scene and the show as a whole.
How does this play speak to a contemporary audience?
With this show originally written and set in the 90s, the crew stressed how their audiences now should take the production as a message for our current time. Assistant director Claire Berkeley explains how ‘thrust staging’ allows the audience to connect, by having the audience surround the stage on three sides. “We intend, with the sets, to really make them feel uncomfortable, kind of as if they're in the scene themselves, dealing with this conflict,” Tumo agrees, stating how it can make them feel complicit in the viewpoints represented.
Angelina expresses how the rise of AI and AI artwork is an interesting debate for the audience to refer to. “I think that we really need to take a look at what we think art is, how we view art, and… remember that everything that we view is made for consumption.” She hopes ART can open up further debates on this, and the show’s relevance in our time.
How do they hope the audience will respond?
Ayushi also hopes the audience will come away with empathy for the characters.
“When I read it for the first time, I was like.. it's so sad, because at the core of it, you do sort of see these three people really floundering to keep these relationships that they care about, but they don't know how to navigate,” she tells The Cheese Grater, touching on a profoundly human aspect of the production.
Enyu argues that the best audience reaction, especially of British theatregoers, is one where they simply say it is just good.
What surprised them most during the rehearsal process?
When asked about what surprised them so far about the rehearsal process, the crew focused heavily on their changing feelings towards ‘ART’ and characters.
On one hand, Ayushi notes how much funnier the play and the actors have been since rehearsing. On the other hand, Claire considers how tragic each character really is and the dynamic it brings to the stage.
“We've attempted so much, and we've done so many ridiculous things; we've taken the script at face value, but we've also completely thrown it out the window at times,” says Charlie, reflecting on how versatile the script has been since rehearsing, allowing them all to be more imaginative.
What makes ‘ART’ an important story?
Upon reflection about the value of ‘ART’ as a story, and bubbling excitement for the production, the team asserted similar views on how they hope art itself will be viewed.
Tumo expresses his hopes to question the value and ownership of art over time, and what this means for the individual. “Especially in this community, in artsUCL, we’re all creatives of some sort. So it is a question that we should be thinking about, because I think it will make us better as artists,” he contemplates.
In bringing together the three characters, Enyu highlights friendship as a core theme of the play, along with the unique bitterness and toxic stoicism found in male friendship. Ultimately, all of the crew agree that it is a play centered in self valuation and identity, making it an important, deeply human story to be told.
As Tumo puts it, “I want it to be a joyful experience, because it is written well [...] it is received as a comedy by audiences across the world, so I hope it's a joyful experience”.
The cast includes Enyu Hu as Marc, Angelina Paz-King as Serge and Charlie Raven as Yvan.
The production team includes Tom Hughes (Producer, director of sold-out Bloomsbury Theatre production Shrek the Musical 2024), Tumo Reetsang (Director, Best Individual Performer Arts Award 2025), Ayushi Bhanja (Associate Director, director of sold-out original musical HOME at the Bloomsbury Studio 2025), Claire Berkeley and Zoya Mankhand (Assistant Directors, Production team debut).
The creative team includes Holly Bain (Assistant Producer, creative), Vijaishri Bhaskar (Assistant Producer, marketing), Mushili Wilkie (Set Designer), Molly Lau (Prop Supervisor), Irene Qu (Set Assistant), Tanjin Huda (Lighting Designer), Victor Ling (Lighting Assistant), Raghad Abdin (Sound Designer), and Nauen Kim (Marketing Assistant).