Masterpiece Francesco Gregorance, right, from the Croft Gallery, who painted the white canvas, with the Art cast, from left, Lance Hodges, Paul Saunders and Peter Edge-Partington

Don't talk about religion, politics – or about art

If you missed it in the West End, you can now see the smash hit play Art in the convenience of your home town.

It may be an amateur production of Yasmina Reza's script, but don't let that put you off as this is being performed by the Old Town Theatre Company who are more than capable to get their teeth into it.

The play centres around the purchase of a painting. A man who fancies himself as a connoisseur spends £200,000 on a painting – but it is a completely white canvas.

His best friend thinks he's been conned, while another friend sits on the fence abut the whole thing, wanting to keep the peace.

Director Wendy Vickery is enjoying the extracting the complex layers of the relationship between the three characters. She said: "Art was a huge success when it was performed in the West End and it's easy to see why.

"It's a brilliantly written play – viciously funny, yet at the same time quite poignant. It'll have you laughing out loud, but also make you feel quite uncomfortable.

"Buying a white painting is the catalyst that threatens to destroy the relationship between the three guys who've known each other for years."

When it came to finding a white painting as the centre of the story, Francesco Gregorace of the Croft Gallery in Old Town offered to paint it himself.

Art will be on at the Arts Centre, Devizes Road, Old Town, Swindon from September 7-9 at 8pm. For tickets, at £6 or £4 for concessions, call 01793 614837.

Flicky Harrison

The above photo was taken by Jennifer Burton of the Swindon Advertiser and is used with their kind permission.