by John Logan
1958, New York City. Famed artist Mark Rothko has just been offered a small fortune to paint a series of murals for the legendary Four Seasons restaurant. As he begins the work, his new assistant, Ken, arrives. As they question, fight, challenge and provoke each other, their time together will change their lives and their art forever. Winner of the 2010 Tony Award for Best New Play, Red is an extraordinary and thrilling story of genius, friendship and creativity.
Presented with support from Arbor Acres.
What director West and his team have brought to us with RED is fine craft and intellectually complex. What we take away as an audience is up to us… and that is exactly how Mark Rothko would want it to be. Who needs certainty and rote explanation? That would be boring. Life is about mystery, life is about fear, life is about beauty, and in the end life is exactly what we struggle to make of it.
Both actors personified the foremost doctrine of Mark Rothko’s use of contrasting shapes and colors. What he conveyed through abstract expressionism, this production did with theatre. There was the new slowly dethroning the old, and Light being chased out by Darkness.
John Logan's RED, which will open in previews Tuesday at Hanesbrands Theatre, explores Rothko's emphatic philosophies, conflicts and questions about the meaning of art and life through conversations with his assistant, Ken.
Triad Stage’s inaugural season in Winston-Salem continues with RED, John Logan’s compelling portrait of artist Mark Rothko at the Hanesbrands Theatre in downtown Winston-Salem, directed by Jeffery West.