Want to have fun with Pablo Picasso, Steve Martin and Albert Einstein? Well, let’s go. Meet them (at least in spirit) on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. That’s when Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Kendall Campus kicks off its 2010-11 theater season with Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the first full-length play written by legendary comedian actor, filmmaker…and banjo player Steve Martin, who also happens to be the writer of my favorite romantic comedy—LA Story.

Written in 1993, Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile centers on two main characters who just happen to be Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso. Yes, the heroes of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and the Theory of Relativity who radically transformed our perception of beauty and time, form and motion, this and that. These two chaps meet in the fall of 1904, which is before their revolutionary breakthroughs, in a little bar called Au Lapin Agile located in Montmarte—the bustling red-light district of Paris made famous by the Moulin Rouge. From here, all heck breaks loose.

According to the Library Journal, Martin ‘s play is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of “the impact of art and science on our rapidly changing society”. In complex ways, Picasso mirrors our ever changing technological and artistic landscape, which sounds really boring but the play is actually a hoot.  In fact, it’s hysterical. I asked Professor Mello, who directs the play, why she chose this one and she said she wanted to do something funny and light. So, get ready to laugh your pants off in spectacular and unexpected ways. Opening performance on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. Additional showtimes: Oct. 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 3 & 10 at 2 p.m. MDC Kendall Campus, 11011 S.W. 104 St. Building M, Theater. For more information about this production, please contact Prof. Deborah Mello at 305-237-2282/2203. The play is entirely performed by MDC students.