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The Collaboration
The Collaboration
Written by	Anthony McCarten
Date premiered	12 February 2022
Place premiered	The Young Vic; London
Original language	English
Subject	Painting, art, fashion, race, homosexuality, NYC
Genre	Drama
Setting	1984 New York City

The Collaboration is a dramatic stage play written by New Zealand playwright Anthony McCarten. The play originated in the West End at The Young Vic in London. The original production starred Paul Bettany as Andy Warhol and Jeremy Pope as Jean-Michel Basquiat. The story, set in New York in 1984, centers around the collaboration between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat and their new exhibition.^[1] The production transferred on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in a co-production with the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Young Vic Theatre, starting on November 29, 2022, and ending in February 2023.

Synopsis

The show revolves around the painter and artist Andy Warhol, whose career is falling, and his relationship with the up-and-coming artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Together, they agree to collaborate on a new art exhibit.

Background

The play was written by the British playwright Anthony McCarten and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. It is the second of what McCarten calls his "Worship Trilogy", works that explore the collective fascination with religion, art and money. The first in the installment was his 2019 film The Two Popes starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The final installment of the "Worship Trilogy" is Wednesday at Warren's, Friday at Bill's, the upcoming McCarten-scripted adaptation about the meetings between Warren Buffett and Bill Gates that led to the establishment of The Giving Pledge, which encourages extraordinarily wealthy people to give their fortunes to philanthropic causes.^[2]

Notable casts

Role	Original production February 2022	Broadway production November 2022
Andy Warhol	Paul Bettany
Jean-Michel Basquiat	Jeremy Pope
Bruno Bischofberger	Alec Newman	Erik Jensen
Maya	Sofia Barclay	Krysta Rodriguez

Productions

2022 West End

The play originated in the West End written by McCarten and directed by Kwei-Armah; the production opened in previews at the Young Vic in London in February 2022 and ended its run in April.

2022 Broadway

The production made its New York stage debut on Broadway presented by the Manhattan Theatre Club and directed by Kwei-Armah with Bettany and Pope reprising their roles at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater with previews beginning on November 29, 2022, and an opening night on December 18. It closed on February 11, 2023.^[3]

Film adaptation

In 2022, it was announced that the play would be adapted into a movie of the same name, Kwei-Armah's directorial debut, with Bettany and Pope reprising their roles.^[2]

Critical reception

Critical reception for the play was mixed, with praise mostly being focused on the leading performance of Bettany and Pope as Warhol and Basquiat respectively. Time Out said of the play, "It is, as I say, terrific entertainment. But there's no getting away from the fact that it's wildly contrived".^[4] The critic Arifa Akbar of The Guardian praised the performances writing, "Bettany and Pope do so much more than merely ventriloquising their celebrity parts. Bettany captures Warhol's tics – his gawkiness and gormless stares with a deadpan streak of cynicism...Pope gives us a seductive, childlike free spirit in his Basquiat".^[5] The Evening Standard's critic, Nick Curtis, praised the performances describing them as "devastating", "triumphant" and "gorgeous", adding, "McCarten...gives them plenty of big themes – art, commerce, identity, faith, death – to chew on."^[6]