Picasso at the Lapin Agile
by Steve Martin
Martin's hilarious play is set in a small cafe in Montmartre, Paris. The cafe, where Picasso was a regular customer, is still in operation after over one hundred and forty years. The outside the cabaret hangs a sign pain ted in 1875 by Andre Gill of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan. Over the years, "Le Lapin a Gill" changed into Lapin Agile.
22 rue de Sales is the address of this famous bar which now offers cabaret entertainment each evening. For one hundred and thirty francs you gain admission to a very tiny room, approximately 16 feet wide by twenty-four feet long. The walls and ceiling are painted a dark brownish black. Along the walls are benches except where patrons enter by the Yamaha piano. There are two tables in the center of the room that can seat about fourteen guests. At the table closest to the piano player enters a group of eight people who are the entertainers for the evening. The quaint setting is so small that there is no room for a stage so the singers sit at the table and take turns entertaining the audience. The performers casually walk up to the piano and select music for upcoming songs. At certain times one of them will disappear through the curtained entrance only to return moments later with a guitar or accordion. The audience is encouraged, from the beginning of the evening, to join in with the singing making the entertainment very comfortable for everybody.
Picasso's famous painting (click to view enlarged image)
Lapin Agile Log Book. Drawing and text by Pierre Mac Orlan.
Excerpt from the Lapin Agile Log Book. Painting by Maurice de Vlaminck.
Le Lapin Agile by Maurice Ulrillo.
Handbill used today by the cabaret.
