There's a six degrees of Kevin Bacon connection between the three stars of South Coast Repertory's Art, running through Nov. 19 on the main stage. John de Lancie played the mysterious Q on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" on which Stephen Markle portrayed Kova Tholl. Markle then played Kevin Lea on "Jag," where Steven Culp has been appearing as Clayton Webb.

Now they're all performing together as the trio of men comically torn apart by a piece of art. The Tony Award-winning Yasmina Reza comedy began performances Oct. 13 with an opening Oct. 20.

Aside from his turn as Captain Picard's chief tormenter, de Lancie has directed for L.A. TheatreWorks, adapted radio dramatizations of classic science fiction like "The Time Machine" and "The Invisible Man" and appeared at South Coast Rep in Childe Byron, Man and Superman and Going for the Gold. Culp received Drama-Logue Awards for Angels in America at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre and Raised in Captivity at SCR and plays Bobby Kennedy in the upcoming Kevin Costner film, "Thirteen Days." Markle recently performed on Broadway as Banquo in the short-lived Macbeth starring Kelsey Grammer, his fifth time in the Scottish play, including a turn in the title role at the Belasco. Other credits include Roderigo in Christopher Plummer's Othello, Him in Albee's The Man Who Had Three Arms at Broadway's St. James and a turn as alcoholic journalist Mel Hayes on "One Life to Live."

Culp is the wishy-washy Ivan, de Lancie is Marc, who bought the canvas painted in shades of white, and Markle plays the uptight, angry Serge.

Mark Rucker directs. Other Rep credits include The Summer Moon, Amy's View, On the Jump, So Many Words and Dimly Perceived Threats to the System. Tickets are $49-$18. South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. For reservations, call (714) 708-5555. South Coast Repertory is on the web at http://www.scr.org.

-- By Christine Ehren