Imitatio

Ethan Kaplan’s “Imitatio” is a sly, smart, wry and moving study of the New York art scene, ambition, generational and cultural difference and the longings of the human heart. A luminous play.” – Richard Schotter - playwright and Director of the MFA Program in Playwriting at Queens College, CUNY. What are the rules for creating art at this cultural and historical moment? What is the relationship between art and artist now? What work can painting do in the world? These are the questions that Ethan Kaplan’s play Imitatio brings to light. As artist Hank Spinoza tells his painting students, “. . . to limit yourself, deliberately or not, that is where true art begins.” Indeed, creating and living within limits becomes a hard-earned and difficult lesson for all of the character here. Imitatio is at once a tour de force, a statement on the relationship between the art world, commerce and capitalism, and a deeply moving meditation on the power of love. – Nicole Cooley