The distinctive strength of a local, community-based theater organization, like the Menomonie Theater Guild, lies in its close tie to the audience. A relationship is built out of a play, a communal occurrence built from art. Directly emphasizing this, the MTG will be host to a unique, three-piece cultural event: a production of the Tony Award-winning play Art, by Yasmina Reza, bolstered with an art exhibit containing pieces cultivated by local and university artists, and all followed by post-show discussion sessions mediated by Charles Lume, an art professor at the University of Wisconsin–Stout.

    Art revolves around the story of three friends: Serge, who happily shells out 200,000 francs for a piece of abstract, expressionist art, and Marc and Yvan, who react to their friend’s artistic taste with honest, and brutal, criticism (though the play’s dialogue can enter profane territory, it’s used as a comedic tool and not for shock-value). Through this conflict, the aesthetics of art are called into question while underlying friction between the three friends is revealed.

    “Considering that the play so deftly explores the question, ‘What is art?’ it’s no surprise thekind of audience response it generates,” says Blaine Halverson, who plays Serge, the impulse art-shopper. “We put on this same play in the past, for a smaller audience, and the amount of comments from those who attended was staggering.” When you have half an audience artistically inspired to discuss aesthetics, it seems like a logical step to, in economic terms, supply the demand: an organized, open discourse via a post-show sit-down.