&

Comedies Starring John O'Connell
& F. William Parker

WHAT THE CRITICS WROTE
about Brush Strokes
(A Lesson From Gauguin and Van Gogh's Ear)

Los Angeles Times (March 26, 1999)
Love and Its Quirks Connect "Gauguin" With "Van Gogh's Ear"

Under Norman Cohen's adept direction, John O'Connell and F. William Parker skillfully apply gentle humor to Matt Swan's loosely connected two-character one-acts, "A Lesson From Gauguin": and "Van Gogh's Ear,"at the Fremont Centre Theatre. This bill is about quirky expressions of love rather than the artists themselves.
In October 1888, Paul Gauguin (Parker) wanders into a dressmaker's shop, hoping the proprietor, Herr Dietzel, can direct him to their mutual friend, Van Gogh. Instead, Gauguin discovers the clerk, Felix (O'Connell), making love to a mannequin. As a frequenter of whorehouses, Gauguin endeavors to teach the lovelorn clerk the ways of love.
On Christmas Eve of the same year, Van Gogh (O'Connell) is home alone when Dietzel (Parker) comes to share some good cognac and holiday cheer. Van Gogh asks advice on how to make a good impression when presenting his beloved with his severed ear.
This is all played for fun with O'Connell and Parker working with exquisite timing. They mug and roll their eyes to acknowledge the daftness of the situations, but Cohen doesn't let the two go over the top. There's an air of respectful irreverence.
Having O'Connell first play the clerk who momentarily parodies Van Gogh then play Van Gogh lends an odd poignancy to the second act. Parker plays Gauguin as a vain artiste, yet his Dietzel is a hard-working merchant trying to humor the increasingly worrisome behavior of his friend.
This isn't art history, but a feather-light trifle that humanizes two painters with great comedic flair.

San Gabriel Valley News/ Pasadena Star-News (March 26, 1999)
Capturing Gauguin's passion, ego
The Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena, a tiny space with great charm, is fast developing a reputation for producing first quality, intimate plays. The usual fare offers up a life story, either fictional or biographical, utilizing nor more than three or four actors, which is frankly about all their space can support.
The most recent efforts being produced at the Fremont fall neatly within this category. In repertory with a celebration of Shakespeare called "Sonnets from a Wandering Bark,"and "The Life and Times of A. Einstein,"comes a duo of one-acts by Matt Swan titled "Van Gogh's Ear"and "A Lesson from Gauguin."Here one looks, with considerable humor, at the breakup of the legendary Arles friendship of two of France's greatest painters.
The show brings back John O'Connell and F. William Parker, whose performance of John Mortimer's "The Dock Brief"at the Fremont last year was one of the theater company's most unqualified successes. In the first of the two plays, "A Lesson from Gauguin,"Parker is that famous post impressionist, engaged in a lengthy discussion with a somewhat outrageous shop assistant in the dress shop that displays his paintings.
Parker gives Gauguin all the passion and ego, which would both make him a great artist and difficult to live with. However, one is particularly captivated by O'Connell's spin on the quirky little shop assistant, who has romances not with living women but with the workroom dummies upon which dresses are built. The results are odd, but quite amusing.
"Van Gogh's Ear,"set only a couple of days before the great painter's commitment to a mental facility, covers the direct aftermath of Van Gogh's famous ear-cutting. Here, as he conducts a fairly straightforward conversation with the dress shops owner, one becomes introduced to the logic of madness, and the spooky genius that was Van Gogh himself.
Much of the success of what could have been a grim and uncomfortable thing falls again at the feet of quality performances. This time it's O'Connell who handles the strictly historical character, making Vincent Van Gogh engaging, even as he is obviously extremely disturbed. As the logical, German store owner trying to be sociable. Parker's very sanity underscores Van Gogh's uniqueness. Again, the interplay between those rooted in this world and those altering their own perceptions becomes an engrossing thing to watch.
Director Norman Cohen who was also responsible for "The Dock Brief, "proves expert at keeping these talky plays in such a small space from becoming static. The set by James Wheeler makes particularly fine use of the limited area.
One word of caution. Though fascinating people, both Van Gogh and Gauguin lived lives among the underside of society. Some of the references in the play might be unsuitable for children.
Neither "Van Gogh's Ear"nor 'A Lesson from Gauguin"attempts a straightforward history lesson. If you are looking for complex biographies, you will not find them here. Rather, this is a look at genius at a moment of crisis. It's a fascinating, funny, apocryphal snapshot--entertaining and thought-provoking at once.

LA WEEKLY (1999)
VAN GOGH'S EAR/A LESSON FROM GAUGUIN
Playwright Matt Swan imagines Vincent Van Gogh inviting fellow painter Paul Gauguin to share his house in Arles. But Gauguin's presence only exacerbates Van Gogh's emotional instability, driving him to violence and self-mutilation. Though there's material for high drama here, Swan plays it mostly for laughs. In the first of his related one-acts, A Lesson From Gauguin, the newly arrived Gauguin (F. William Parker) stops in a dress shop to seek directions, only to discover the shop assistant (John O'Connell) locked in a passionate embrace with a dressmaker's dummy. In Van Gogh's Ear, the dress-shop owner, Herr Dietzel (Parker), pays Van Gogh a friendly visit, but soon realizes that Van Gogh (O'Connell) has just cut off his own ear as a Christmas present for a local whore. The plays are humorous variations on a single theme: the bemusement of a practical man when confronted by a semi-demented visionary who lives on a symbolic plane. Swan's clever writing provides ample opportunities for Parker and O'Connell to exercise their near-perfect teamwork as they exploit every comic possibility, and director Norman Cohen blends their efforts into a seamless delight.

LA WEEKLY (1999)
P I C K O F T H E W E E K

The Tolucan times-Canyon Crier (March 24, 1999)
"Brush Strokes"in two acts at Fremont Centre Theatre

Written with a zany flair for comedy by Matt Swan, this is a wildly funny, unusual set of one acts. Loosely based on actual facts, we spend a day in the lives of two of history's best known artists. . .None other than Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.
Under the razor sharp direction of Norman Cohen, this two many show unfolds with precision timing and great performances! Consummate actors, John O'Connell and F. William Parker, offer skills, expressions and gestures that mesmerized the audience, while totally cracking them up at the same time.
Set design by James Wheeler, and costuming by Neisha Opper, lend themselves perfectly to the insanity!
In the first scene, "A Lesson From Gauguin, "Artist Gauguin, (played by Parker) visits a dress shop and catches the shopkeeper Felix, (played by O'Connell) lustfully fondling and sweet talking to a dress mannequin. Felix, a lonely little man, has developed a most unnatural affection for this mannequin, whom he has named Natalie. Very funny concept!
In the second act, "Van Gogh's Ear,"we meet the troubled Van Gogh, (O'Connell) moments after he has cut off his own ear. A friend, Deitzel drops by to offer a bottle of cognac for Christmas and finds Van Gogh, head bandaged and crazed! When asked why he cut off his ear, Van Gogh answered, "I don't need to hear to paint.!"This my favorite of the two is absolutely hilarious!
The writing, the visuals and the flawless performances of the two men individually and as a team makes this a wonder theatre experience. You'll gather some little known historical facts about the friendship between Van Gogh and Gauguin, while laughing uncontrollably! Try to catch this one. . .