The Collaboration at the Young Vic

In The Collaboration, premiering at the Young Vic, two opposite personalities, worlds apart, blaze on stage, as they did back then in 1984 in New York. Anthony McCarten brings the story of the collision of art legends Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat to the theatre. Warhol, still feeling the aftereffects of Valerie Solanas’s attack and at this point fully invested in the filming and camera-craft, is beginning to feel the decline of his career. Basquiat’s story, on the other hand, is rocketing. Despite loud reservations from both about working together on the same project, the two soon become a peculiar duo, as they open up to each other, ending up sharing more than just “simple” canvases.

As the original poster had planned to promote the fruit of their work together. The drama itself is a boxing match, initially with slow and observational movements, the first act at risk of plodding. And then, the punches are vehement, raw, culminating in a tender and invisible clutch. Paul Bettany has the luminescent white hair of Warhol; with skinny silhouette, tight-fitting clothing and a fear of dirt, he speaks with a faint, almost vague voice, in keeping with his fragile-looking gestures, but then constantly hits his rival/companion with questions. Jeremy Pope portrays an unrestrained Basquiat: dishevelled in baggy jumpers, less organised but a passionate and tumultuous character. The two are like satellites rotating in opposite directions but belonging to the same solar system. They expound their contrasting theories and beliefs about art, life and death with straightforward sentences. McCarten’s script doesn’t intend to preach but exposes and explains. The leading performers are an absorbing spectacle in the second act, their stances clashing but the men still, somehow, comprehending each other.

After a short initial neutral ground, the story takes place first in Warhol’s studio and then in Basquiat’s house. The environments underline how very much alike, although distant, the two are; the plain walls in both spaces, against which bright paintings hang, create visual links, as much as the scattered props disconnect them. The sound design is kept low, apart from in the waiting moments outside the show, during which the stage turns into a multimedia disco exhibit space.

A thoughtful piece, The Collaboration demands the audience’s attention to reflect on two points of view on big existential and aesthetic topics – but without heaviness: an intriguing insight into the minds of the artists.

Cristiana Ferrauti

The Collaboration is at the Young Vic from 16^th February until 5^th April 2022. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.