Does she still consider herself a moralist? She smiles. "There are all these university theses that say I'm a moralist. I don't know if I am or not. Perhaps…" She lets the thought hang, taking another sip of her tea. Her second play, Winter Crossing, won the 1990 Molière Award for Best Fringe Production, and her next play, The Unexpected Man, enjoyed successful productions in England, France, Scandinavia, Germany and New York.

Art seems to be Reza's most realistic portrayal of human relationships. I'm not ashamed to admit that I found myself and my relationships to some of my friends in that piece. Friendships are hard, man, especially ones between three people where it's always hard to keep a good and healthy balance. Some of those dialogues could have actually sprung directly from conversations that I had with my own friends (albeit in a different context, of course), especially the silent communication between two while a third is left out, or the shift in attitude and conduct in relation to which friend one is speaking to. In fact, she positively eschews the notion that she sets out to write plays with "big ideas". "You know, critics in general always have a tendency to give a sociological dimension to my work. For me, I'm thrilled they say that, but it's not that that animates me. What motivates me most is writing about people who are well brought up and yet, underneath that veneer, they break down. Their nerves break down. It's when you hold yourself well until you just can't any more, until your instinct takes over. It's physiological."

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But as the play moved into its second half, it transmogrified into an ominously dark yet strangely humorous examination of long term friendships. What assumptions do we make about our friends? What is their value to us? How much is based on patronizing, or the needs of our ego? What secrets can’t be spoken? And how much does our self image dictate the needs of our friendships? Can friendship survive an airing of these questions?

Carroll, N. “Friendship and Yasmina Reza’s ‘Art’" Philosophy And Literature 26.1 (n.d.): 199-206. Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.Serge: Serge, according to Marc, has recently taken a dive into the world of Modern Art and has fallen head over heels with a newfound respect for it. Modern Art speaks to something within him that makes sense and which he finds beautiful. Serge has recently gone through a divorce and has a dim view of marriage and anyone searching to make a commitment to another person. His rules for life, friendship, and art went out the window with his marriage and now he has found peace in the realm of Modern Art where the old rules are thrown out and acceptance and instinct govern what is valuable. L'Aube le soir ou la nuit (2007). Dawn Dusk or Night: My Year With Nicolas Sarkozy, trans. Carol Brown Janeway (2008).