The acting of Marc Anthony Solis (Taylor) and Christopher Ryan Guidarelli (Wyatt) along with the direction of Billy Luce-Murray holds the short one-act Three Paintings together. What doesn’t work is the premise of Virgo’s play.

The idea that two married gay artists, one Black (Taylor) and the other white (Wyatt), both working in a college setting would not have discussed the racism and homophobia that they and their relationship would face, both before marriage and after, seems a bit preposterous. The idea that neither realized that their marriage and the racism and homophobia it faced would become a central theme in the work of one or both of them is a bit fantastical. After all this is the age of the search for identity and self revelation. That makes the central idea of Three Paintings incomprehensible.

That Wyatt would apply for and be awarded a major commission based on the theme of racism would seem only natural. That Taylor would feel exposed by his life partner addressing a central theme in their lives is shocking. It would be expected that both of these artists would already have works in their portfolios that addressed the subject directly and aggressively. In fact, it rather easy to imagine what these works might look like.

Virgo never goes to the place where serious problems in the relationship exist beyond Wyatt’s commission and that the commission is only a red herring for Taylor. That might have made Three Paintings believable, but in its current form, Three Paintings’ premise is only head scratching.