THE STORY: Paris, 1941. Pablo Picasso has been summoned from his favorite café by German occupation forces to a storage vault across the city for an interrogation. His questioner: Miss Fischer, a beautiful “cultural attaché” from Berlin. Her assignment: discover which of the three Picasso paintings recently “confiscated” by the Nazis from their Jewish owners are real. The ministry of propaganda has planned an exhibit, and only the great artist himself can attest to their authenticity. At first Picasso agrees to her request, confirming that the three pictures are indeed his own. But when Miss Fischer reveals that the “exhibition” is actually a burning of “degenerate art,” Picasso becomes desperate to save his work and engages in a pressurized negotiation with the equally determined and wily Miss Fischer to hold on to two of his precious “children” while consigning the third to the flames. A cat-and-mouse drama about art, politics, sex and truth, with a twist at its climax.
“Artful, remarkable and genuinely dramatic, with impressive sensitivity and wit.” —New York Daily News.
“Sex, art, Nazis, and a classy twentieth-century icon, all wrapped up like a tasty cultural burrito. Expertly done.” —The Star-Ledger (NJ).
“A polished production with carefully sprung surprises.” —The New York Times.
“If I were a betting man (and who isn’t in the the theater), I’d wager that we’ll be seeing a lot of Jeffrey Hatcher’s new play over the next few years…brace for a Picasso bonanza. An exceptionally sharp piece of writing coming soon, no doubt, to a theater near you.” —New York Sun.
“An intense confrontational drama.” —Miami Herald.
