This Friday and Saturday the Boston Teen Acting Troupe (BTAT) will present the multi-awarding satirical comedy “Art” at Boston College High School’s Bulger Performing Arts Center. Originally written in French by Yasmina Reza, the English-language version by Christopher Hampton went on to win multiple awards, including the Tony for Best Play of 1998.

Though all the actors are BC High students and the play is presented on the school’s campus, the production is not sponsored by the school.

Under the direction of the two-time Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild Award winner Jack Serio, the completely teenage cast of Kevin Koulopoulos (Marc), Ronan Smith (Serge), and Alex Bailey (Yvan) play three longtime friends who find their relationship tested when one of them buys a very expensive all-white painting. When Serge, a novice art collector, asks his two friends to view his newly acquired work of art, this “priceless” painting tests their fifteen-year friendship in a play that the New York Post hails as “wildly funny and naughtily provocative.”

The Boston Teen Acting Troupe was founded in January of 2011 with the goal of bringing professional teen theater to the greater Boston area, as well as providing an outlet for Boston teenagers who are serious about their craft, whether that be acting, directing, or design. The BTAT’s goal is eliminate the cliché of “bad high school theater” by producing challenging plays not normally seen portrayed by young actors. Since 2011, the BTAT has produced six teen-run shows in a variety of Boston and Cambridge theaters. Coverage in the New York Times and on National Public Radio have created a fan following for the fledgling theatre group.

The Bulger Center is located at 150 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester. For tickets and more information visit bostonteenactingtroupe.com.

LoVasco exhibit extended: Hallspace at 950 Dot has extended the exhibition of Joe Lo Vasco, which opened Dec. 8, through Sat., Jan. 26. LoVasco was a student of gallery owner curator John Colan at Monserratt College and “re-Forms,” an exhibition of sculpture, collage and drawings, is his first solo exhibition in the Boston area. 

LoVasco works with wood, concrete, paper, and found ephemera. He is influenced by patterns and forms found in urban and rural landscapes and is having fun with this work. In “Neighborhood”, a series of painted cast concrete forms, LoVasco seems to be poking fun at urban concrete buildings. Another work is wryly titled, “Building on its Side,” a three-foot carved and painted maple wood sculpture depicting a building that might have tipped over, or might be waiting to be erected, yet it maintains the dignity of a monumental structure. The collages and drawings are designed and constructed using colored pencil, paper, and scored surfaces. The drawings are not plans for the sculpture, they are interpretations of forms and shapes related to the work.  

LoVasco writes, “Man-made structures are a large source of inspiration in my sculptural work. The hard lines, intersecting angels and the collection of shapes joined together to form the overall structure are all key elements in my work. I enjoy the subtle inconsistencies that come from working a material by hand.”   The artist studied graphic design and sculpture and has a BFA from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts. He is the art director of Steez Magazine.