"A Picasso" by Jeffrey Hatcher runs through July 12th

There is an account from Pablo Picasso's time living in Paris, during WW2, of his being harrassed by an officer of the Gestapo. During the questioning, the officer pointed to a photograph of Picasso's painting "Guernica," the famous cubist depiction of the bombing of that Spanish city by the Germans and Italians, and asked "Did you do that?" to which Picasso curtly replied "No. You did." In "A Picasso" now playing at Performance Network, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher uses this exchange as the starting point for a taut thriller, pitting notorious lothario Picasso against Miss Fischer, a female agent of the Ministry of Culture. In the play Picasso is called in by the Nazis to authenticate three of his paintings, so they can be included in a public art burning of "degenerate art." What ensues is a cat and mouse battle of wills, as Picasso defends his art, his political views and his sexual predation of women. It's a mesmerizing exploration of the psyche of the artist, as well as an old fashioned battle of the sexes with Picasso using all of the weapons in his sexual arsenal. Set in the hornets' nest of Nazi-occupied Paris, the stakes are nothing short of life and death. Who wins, who loses? The answer may surprise you.