Red
About the work
New York, 1958.
Celebrated artist Mark Rothko is at the height of his fame having just accepted a commission to paint a series of murals for the exclusive Four Seasons Restaurant in the Seagram Building on Park Avenue. To help him in his work he’s employed a new assistant, Ken, himself an aspiring artist. Rothko plans to paint thirty or more canvases and then choose the ones that work best together. It’s a time-consuming process, one that requires careful deliberation.
As Rothko studies the paintings he questions Ken on his attitude to art and the young assistant, in turn, challenges the older artist’s perception of contemporary culture – contrasting Mozart with Chet Baker, Rothko with Andy Warhol. Rothko feels increasingly under threat from this new generation of artists – Jasper Johns, Frank Stella and Roy Lichtenstein – ready to replace him just as he and his contemporaries replaced the Cubists thirty years before.
Will Rothko and his paintings survive? How does an artist create a body of work that lives on? Perhaps the ‘Seagram Murals’ will be his lasting legacy, but is the venue the right setting for them? And are the clientele the right viewers?
John Logan
John Logan received the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle and Drama League awards for his play Red. This play premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London and at the Golden Theatre on Broadway. Since then Red has had more than 200 productions across the US and has been presented in over 30 countries. He is the author of more than a dozen other plays including Peter and Alice, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers and Never the Sinner. He also co-wrote the book for the musical The Last Ship. As a screenwriter, Logan has been three times nominated for the Oscar and has received a Golden Globe, BAFTA, WGA, Edgar, and PEN Center award. His film work includes Skyfall, Spectre, Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator, Rango, Alien: Covenant, Genius, Coriolanus, Sweeney Todd, The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday and RKO 281. He created and produced the television series Penny Dreadful for Showtime.
Mark Rothko (Alfred Molina)
American painter, 50s or older
“He wears thick glasses and old, ill-fitting clothes spattered with specks of glue and paint.”
A temperamental man with strong opinions, especially about art, his volatility hides a vulnerability – the fear of becoming redundant and ultimately being replaced.
Ken (Alfred Enoch)
Rothko’s new assistant, 20s
A thoughtful young man with a troubled past, he’s an aspiring artist eager to learn more. Nervous at first around Rothko, Ken slowly grows in confidence and is ultimately able to challenge the older man.
Red by John Logan (Oberon, 2018)
The text of MGC’s 2018 production of the play at Wyndham’s Theatre
The following is a list of books about Mark Rothko, his life and work, and the cultural context of the play, which were in the rehearsal room for the original production in 2009:
- The Artist’s Reality – Philosophies of Art by Mark Rothko (Yale University Press, 2004)
- Writings on Art by Mark Rothko (Yale University Press, 2006)
- Mark Rothko (Skira, 2007)
- Mark Rothko (National Gallery of Art Washington/Yale Catalogue, 1998)
- Rothko ed. by Achim Borchardt-Hume (Tate, 2008)
- Mark Rothko – A Biography by James E.B. Breslin (University of Chicago Press, 1993)
- The Legacy of Mark Rothko by Lee Seldes (Da Capo Press, 1996)
- Mark Rothko in New York by Diane Waldham (Guggenheim Museum, 1994)
- Seeing Rothko ed. by Glenn Phillips and Thomas Crow (Getty Publications, 2005)
- Fifties Forever – Popular Fashions for Men, Women, Boys and Girls by Roseann Ettinger (Schiffer, 1998)
- Fashionable Clothing from the Sears Catalogs Late 1950s by Joy Shih (Schiffer, 1997)
- Young Chet by William Claxton (Schirmer Art Books, 1993)
