The only reason for seeing The Seduction of Edgar Degas: The First Dancer, now at Theater C at 59E59 Theaters, is if you want to learn a little bit about the early career of the famous French artist. If you're looking for a couple of hours of stimulating theater, however, Le Wilhelm's disappointing biographical sketch -- badly directed by the author and less-than-sparklingly performed, at least by Cast A (there are two rotating casts) -- is not the solution.

The play is a fictionalized story about how the then-33-year-old Degas, still in search of his muse, found Eugenie Fiocre, a ballet dancer considered the most beautiful woman in Paris. Mark A. Kinch plays Degas with neither subtlety no[...]