Red

John Logan

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781849432214
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: American Art

'There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend... One day the black will swallow the red.' Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. A moving and compelling account of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century whose struggle to accept his growing riches and praise became his ultimate undoing. Nominated for 7 Olivier Awards (2009) and winner of 6 Tony Awards (2010) including Best New Play.

RED

Red was first performed at Donmar Warehouse, London on 3 December 2009, with the following cast and creativeov team:

ROTHKO	Alfred Molina
KEN	Eddie Redmayne
Creative Team
Director	Michael Grandage
Designer	Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer	Neil Austin
Composer and Sound Designer	Adam Cork

Red was first performed on Broadway at Golden Theatre, New York on 11 March 2010, with the following cast:

ROTHKO	Alfred Molina
KEN	Eddie Redmayne
ROTHKO UNDERSTUDY	Stephen Rowe
KEN UNDERSTUDY	Gabriel Ebert
Creative Team
Director	Michael Grandage
Set and Costume Designer	Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer	Neil Austin
Composer and Sound Designer	Adam Cork
New York Producers
Arielle Tepper Madover
Stephanie P. McClelland
Matthew Byam Shaw
Neal Street
Fox Theatricals
Ruth Hendel/Barbara Whitman
Philip Hagemann/Murray Rosenthal
The Donmar Warehouse

Red was first performed in the West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre, London on 4 May 2018, produced by MGC, with the following cast:

ROTHKO	Alfred Molina
KEN	Alfred Enoch
ROTHKO UNDERSTUDY	Ian Drysdale
KEN UNDERSTUDY	Sam Perry
Creative Team
Director	Michael Grandage
Set and Costume Designer	Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer	Neil Austin
Composer and Sound Designer	Adam Cork

Characters

MARK ROTHKO

American painter, 50s or older

KEN

His new assistant, 20s

Setting

Rothko’s studio, 222 Bowery, New York City.
Circa 1958-1959.

Rothko’s studio is an old gymnasium. The hardwood floor is splattered and stained with hues of dark red paint. There is a cluttered counter or tables filled with buckets of paint, tins of turpentine, tubes of glue, crates of eggs, bottles of Scotch, packets of pigment, coffee cans filled with brushes, a portable burner or stovetop, and a phone. There is also a phonograph with messy stacks of records.

There is one door leading to an unseen vestibule where the characters change into their work clothes and enter and exit the studio.

Most importantly, representations of some of Rothko’s magnificent Seagram Mural paintings are stacked and displayed around the room. Rothko had a pulley system that could raise, lower and display several of the paintings simultaneously. The paintings could be repositioned throughout the play, with a different arrangement for each scene.

There is also an imaginary painting ‘hanging’ right in front of the audience, which Rothko studies throughout the play.

Alternately, the entire setting could be abstract.

Dedicated to Stephen Sondheim
for reminding me.

SCENE ONE

ROTHKO stands, staring forward.

He is looking directly at the audience. (He is actually studying one of his Seagram Mural paintings, which hangs before him.)

Pause.

ROTHKO lights a cigarette. He wears thick glasses and old, ill-fitting clothes spattered with specks of glue and paint.

Contemplative classical music is playing on a phonograph.

ROTHKO takes a drag on his cigarette.

Pause.

There is the sound of a door opening and closing from the unseen entry vestibule offstage.

KEN, a man in his early 20s, enters nervously. He wears a suit and tie. This is the first time he has been in the studio. He looks around.

He is about to speak.

ROTHKO gestures for him not to speak. Then he beckons for KEN to join him.

KEN goes to ROTHKO, stands next to him.

ROTHKO indicates the central painting; the audience.

ROTHKO: What do you see?

KEN is about to respond —

ROTHKO: Wait. Stand closer. You’ve got to get close. Let it pulsate. Let it work on you. Closer. Too close. There. Let it spread out. Let it wrap its arms around you; let it embrace you, filling even your peripheral vision so nothing else exists or has ever existed or will ever exist. Let the picture do its work — But work with it. Meet it halfway for God’s sake! Lean forward, lean into it. Engage with it!… Now, what do you see? – Wait, wait, wait!

He hurries and lowers the lighting a bit, then returns to KEN.

ROTHKO: So, now, what do you see? — Be specific. No, be exact. Be exact — but sensitive. You understand? Be kind. Be a human being, that’s all I can say. Be a human being for once in your life! These pictures deserve compassion and the...