The Collaboration

by Anthony McCarten

Boxers are like painters, both smear their blood on the canvas.

New York, 1984. Fifty-six-year-old Andy Warhol's star is falling. Jean-Michel Basquiat is the new wonder-kid taking the art world by storm. When Basquiat agrees to collaborate with Warhol on a new exhibition, it soon becomes the talk of the city.

As everyone awaits the 'greatest exhibition in the history of contemporary art', the two artists embark on a shared journey, both artistic and deeply personal, that re-draws both their worlds.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Young Vic Theatre in February 2022.

Genres: Plays

Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2022

About the author

Anthony McCarten’s debut novel, Spinners, won international acclaim, and was followed by The English Harem and the award winning Death of a Superhero, and Show of Hands, all four books being translated into fourteen languages. McCarten has also written twelve stage plays, including the worldwide success Ladies’ Night, which won France’s Molière Prize, the Meilleure Pièce Comique, in 2001, and Via Satellite, which he adapted into a feature film and directed, premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Also a filmmaker, he has thrice adapted his own plays or novels into feature films, most recently Death Of A Superhero (2011) which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Anthony divides his time between London and Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

My obsession with Warhol has been well-documented here (not only did I read Gopnik's recent exhaustive, nearly 1000-page bio, but also the additional 700+ pages of endnotes!), so when I discovered this new play about his collaboration with Basquiat, I was all in immediately. Originally staged at the Young Vic back in Feb. '22, it will be opening on Bway soon, with a planned film version to follow. As the reviews below attest, it wasn't apparently an unmitigated success, but I found it quite entertaining as well as enlightening - the playwright certainly captures many of Warhol's quirks and tics, making good use of actual quotes from Warhol's diaries and other sources.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...
https://variety.com/2022/legit/review...

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting conversation between two important artists and the importance of art itself.

[Emmanuelle Hebting · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai adoré ! Après avoir vu l'exposition croisée BasquiatxWharol à la fondation vuitton à Paris, c'est génial!

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at two great artists learning about each other and themselves in the process.

[Will Farris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked act two much more than act one. I would be interested to see if I would enjoy this live or not, because I really am not sure.

[goose · Rating 4 out of 5]

adding this to the list of plays i desperately want to direct but will never have the opportunity to

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll bet Paul Bettany was very good in this