How To Steal A Picasso (Published Comedy)

FINALIST AT THE EUGENE O'NEILL - PUBLISHED BY TRW (Theatrical Rights Worldwide)

A comedy about forgery, art theft, and family. The Smith family rarely agrees on anything, but when their son Johnny returns home for the first time in four years, they reluctantly reunite to celebrate their father, a failed painter who has improbably won the Yoko Ono Lifetime Achievement Award for Non-Objective Art. Then a Picasso disappears from the nearby Detroit Institute of Arts. Suddenly, Johnny’s...

A comedy about forgery, art theft, and family. The Smith family rarely agrees on anything, but when their son Johnny returns home for the first time in four years, they reluctantly reunite to celebrate their father, a failed painter who has improbably won the Yoko Ono Lifetime Achievement Award for Non-Objective Art. Then a Picasso disappears from the nearby Detroit Institute of Arts. Suddenly, Johnny’s homecoming takes a dangerous turn, and a night meant for redemption slides into suspicion, absurdity, and chaos.

This dark comedy explores what is real and what is counterfeit in a pixelated world where artists are treated like employees and art is reduced to a commodity.

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How To Steal A Picasso (Published Comedy)

Recommended by

  • Lojo Simon: How To Steal A Picasso (Published Comedy)

    I laughed from start to finish reading this crazy dysfunctional family story about art and originality. I highly recommend it for professional, community and college theatres.

    I laughed from start to finish reading this crazy dysfunctional family story about art and originality. I highly recommend it for professional, community and college theatres.

  • Eugene O'Neill Theater Center: How To Steal A Picasso (Published Comedy)

    It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend William Missouri Downs and their play How to Steal a Picasso as a finalist for our 2015 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one finalist out of hundreds of submissions, the strength of this play’s writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process.

    It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend William Missouri Downs and their play How to Steal a Picasso as a finalist for our 2015 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one finalist out of hundreds of submissions, the strength of this play’s writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process.

Character Information

  • JOHNNY SMITH
    He gave up art to become a lawyer and regrets it. He has secrets.
    Character Age
    20ish
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    Any
    Character Gender Identity
    Cis male
  • CASEY SMITH
    A rough/tough, street-wise, tattooed artist whose hero is Banksy
    Character Age
    20ish
    Character Gender Identity
    Cis female
  • BELLE SMITH
    A faded Donna Reed on Ritalin, Prozac and Crestor
    Character Age
    50ish
    Character Gender Identity
    Cis female
  • OTTO SMITH
    A vehement artist who hit his peak three decades ago
    Character Age
    50isy
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    Any
    Character Gender Identity
    Cis male
  • MR. WALKER
    The Chief Operating Officer of the Detroit Institute of Arts and a psychopath light
    Character Age
    30-40ish
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    White
    Character Gender Identity
    Male

Development History

Production History

  • Type Professional, Organization Daehakro Arts Theatre - Seoul South Korea, Year 2016
  • Type Professional, Organization Unicorn Theatre, Kansas City, MO, Year 2016

Awards

  • Eugene O'Neill
    Eugene O'Neill
    Finalist
    2015