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Can a friendship endure bad taste in art?

That’s one of the questions raised by “Art,” the award-winning Yasmina Reza play opening the Mad Anthony Theatre Company’s season at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts.

“Art,” which won the 1998 Tony Award for Best Play and equivalent awards in France and Great Britain, is the story of three men whose longtime friendship is threatened when one of them buys an outrageously expensive painting.

Serge, played by Cincinnati actor and Mad Anthony veteran Dennis Murphy, has just gone through a rough divorce and has fallen in with an artsy crowd. His old friends Marc (Burt McCollum) and Yvan (Bill Balfour) are chagrined to discover that Serge has purchased a completely white canvas, presumably painted by a hot young artist named Antrios.

“This time he’s gone over the line,” Cepluch said, “at least as far as his friends are concerned.”

By a plot description, the play is simple, he said, as the three characters debate the purchase and the state of contemporary art, but it’s not about art so much as it’s about friendship and studies of the three characters.

“I’m always looking for plays with a minimal cast,” said director Henry Cepluch, “and some of the strongest actors in the area are middle-aged men, so this was perfect.

“After I decided to do the play, I sat down a couple of nights and just let it sift through my head: Who are the three bets comic actors in the area?

“I called them up and they all three said they’d love to do it. They each have a wealth of experience and there’s an incredible chemistry among them. When they get going, the electricity is just wonderful.

“Art” contains mature language and may not be suitable for younger audiences.

• WHAT: “Art” by Yasmina Reza
• WHERE: Fitton Center for Creative Arts, 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton
• WHEN: 8 p.m. Oct. 18-20; 2 p.m. Oct. 21
• COST:  $15 general admission, $12 members, $6 student
• MORE INFO: (513) 863-8873; www.fittoncenter.org