Leonardo and Picasso were revolutionaries. Who is revolutionary now?

Writer and modern art dealer Caroline Wiseman explores in her original and witty play The Leonardo Question what makes art great and introduces us to many of the artists who have personified modern art as well as to the patrons who supported them. Most of the characters happen to be more than a tad eccentric.  

The play is set in an art gallery. A visitor is left behind by a bored and discontent tour guide because she dared ask a challenging question. The inquisitive lady is joined by a sympathetic gentleman who is fascinated by her enthusiasm and agrees to be taken on a journey through the important moments in the history of modern art - from cubism to conceptualism.

The story begins in 1907, in Paris – Gertrude Stein introduces her friend Alice B. Toklas to Picasso who pops up wearing an Iberian head that he had stolen from a museum and then immediately tries to seduce Stein’s friend once she has left the room. He exclaims: „Painting is something you do with your balls!“ Next we meet Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, and his patron Peggy Guggenheim whose dog bears the same name as her friend and advisor Sir Herbert. Duchamp declares that a sanitary utensil is art „because I say so!“ Peggy Guggenheim and Sir Herbert now become the commentators on the merits or failings of popular artists. They even return from the dead to express their displeasure with Matthew Barney and the YBA (Young British Artists) such as Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst who seem to be interested in only one thing.

The amazing Kyle Ross, Patrick Rogers and Clemmie Reynolds play all the roles in this gloriously funny and intelligent production skillfully directed by Anna Marsland.  

4 June – 24 June, Tue – Fri and Sun 7.30 pm, Sat 6.30 pm, Sun matinee 3.00 pm

Tickets: £ 16 / £ 12 (concessions)

BOX OFFICE: 020 7704 6665

The Rosemary Branch, 2 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DT