Like the painting it focuses on, what you take away from "Art" depends on what you bring to it.

Short, tense and funny, Yasmina Reza's 1998 Tony Award-winning play revolves around an expensive minimalist painting that destabilizes the 15-year friendship of three men.

When Serge pays 200,000 euros for a 5-foot-by-4-foot white canvas embellished with nothing but a few faint white lines, it inexplicably enrages his friend Yvan. Both Serge and Yvan appeal to their mutual friend Marc. Before you can say Kandinsky, the trio find themselves hurling insults, accusations and punches.

It's not about the art, of course.

What the three men are projecting onto the canvas are their own unspoken fears, resentments and discomforts about events in their own lives and the power balance of their relationship.

Reza and Pittsburgh Public Theater director Ted Pappas waste no time in getting down to business, moving the action along in a quick succession of scenes.

In 75 minutes with no intermission, Pappas and the cast of three lay out the groundwork, wind up the tension, then bring the drama to resolution.

Reza is a French playwright, but the play is free of specific connections to any country or continent.

Darren Eliker's Serge, Harry Bouvy's Yvan and Rob Breckenridge's Marc are similarly portrayed as professional, educated, adult and urban but could be living in any city.

Bouvy's snide, but threatened, Yvan drives the conflict, and Eliker's Serge reacts with plausible dismay, defensiveness and escalating exasperation at Yvan's over-reaction.

But it's Breckenridge's neurotic, but peace-making, Marc who garners the audience's affection with an extended, agitated rant that eventually, but obliquely, gets to the heart of what's actually threatening the relationship.

Much of the interest of the play is watching these talented actors bring these men to three-dimensional life. They neatly telegraph their insecurities and the complex dynamics of this three-way relationship and allow the audience to connect with each of them.

Scenic designer Anne Mundell provides a properly stylish and minimalist setting that indicates the shifts between the three men's apartments through signature paintings.

Additional Information:

Produced by: Pittsburgh Public Theater

When: Through June 27 with performances at 8 p.m. most Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. most Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. most Sundays.

Admission: $31-$50; $15 for students and those age 26 or younger

Where: O'Reilly Theater, Downtown

Details: 412-316-1600 or www.ppt.org

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