Overview
A comic-drama set against the bankruptcy of the Motor City. The Smith family doesn’t agree on much, but when their son Johnny comes home for the first time in four years, they reluctantly reconvene to celebrate the father (a failed painter) winning the Yoko Ono Lifetime Achievement Award for Non-Objective Art. In fact, tonight, Sean (the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono) is to come to their house and give the father the award personally. But when a Picasso goes missing from the nearby Detroit Institute for the Arts, the family is suspected and Johnny’s homecoming takes a dramatic turn.
Casting & Production
Casting
JOHNNY SMITH — (Late 20s – male)He gave up art to become a lawyer and regrets it. He has secrets.
CASEY SMITH — (Late 20s – female)A rough/tough, street-wise, tattooed artist whose hero is Banksy.
BELLE SMITH — (50ish – female)A faded Donna Reed on Ritalin, Prozac and CrestorOTTO SMITH (50ish – male)A vehement artist who hit his peak three decades ago.
MR. WALKER — (40ish – male)The Chief Operating Officer of the Detroit Institute of Arts and a psychopath “lite”
(The Smiths are a blended family. The cast can be any race, ethnicity or physicality.)
Setting
Time
Today, Fall
Place
Hamtramck, Michigan
Act One: Early Evening
Act Two: About A Half Hour After Act One Ends
Reviews
“A farce with an edge!”
– The Kansas City Star
“How to Steal a Picasso keeps the audience laughing… It maintains its humor in what the author calls ‘farcical reality’ all the way through the fast two act show that is still able to make its serious points.”
–Broadway World
Media
