''Red'' is a play by American writer John Logan about artist

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latv ...

first produced by the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...

, London, on December 8, 2009. The original production was directed by

Michael Grandage Michael Grandage CBE (born 2 May 1962) is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2 ...

and performed by

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...

as Rothko and

Eddie Redmayne Edward John David Redmayne (; born 6 January 1982) is an English actor. Known for his roles in biopics and blockbusters, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Olivier Awards. He ...

as his fictional assistant Ken."''Red'' listing"

, retrieved May 25, 2010 The production, with its two leads, transferred to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

at the

John Golden Theatre The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was de ...

for a limited engagement which began on March 11, 2010, and closed on June 27. It won the most awards at the 2010 Tonys, including Best Play for Logan and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for Redmayne.

Synopsis

"There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend... One day the black will swallow the red." Mark Rothko is in his New York studio in 1958/59, having been commissioned to paint a group of murals for the expensive and exclusive

Four Seasons restaurant The Four Seasons Restaurant (known colloquially as the Four Seasons) was a New American cuisine restaurant in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City from 1959 to 2019. The Four Seasons operated within the Seagram Building at 99 ...

. He gives orders to his assistant, Ken, as Ken mixes the paints, makes the frames, and primes the canvases. Ken, however, eventually brashly questions Rothko's theories of art and his acceding to work on such a commercial project. For his part, Rothko dislikes the rise of pop art. Ultimately, Rothko stops working on the project and decides to return the money. He explains to Ken that the Four Seasons is an inappropriate place for his murals to be seen.

Reception

Reviews for the London production were mixed for the play but positive for Molina's performance. Michael Billington in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote: "Alfred Molina, with his large frame and beetling eyebrows, has exactly the fierce intensity of an artist whose paintings were a dynamic battle between Apollo and Dionysus". In reviewing the Broadway production,

Michael Kuchwara Michael Charlies Kuchwara (February 28, 1947 – May 22, 2010) was an American theater critic, columnist and journalist. Kuchwara worked as both a critic and journalist for the ''Associated Press'' for more than from 1984 until 2010, writing pi ...

of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

wrote: "They are the tantalizing first words of ''Red'', John Logan's engrossing, often enthralling new play about art, an artist and the act of creation." Those first words were "What do you see?" ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that "Alfred Molina is majestic".

Awards and nominations

The play won the 2010

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

for Distinguished Production of a Play and Molina won the Distinguished Performance Award. The play was nominated for a total of seven

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

s, winning six, including: Best Play, Best Featured Actor in a Play for Eddie Redmayne, Best Direction of a Play for Michael Grandage, Best Scenic Design of a Play for

Christopher Oram Christopher Oram is a British theatre set and costume designer. Background He trained at the West Sussex College of Art and Design (latterly Northbrook College). Early assisting work for designers Anthony Ward and Ian MacNeil, included ''A ...

, Best Lighting Design of a Play for Neil Austin, and Best Sound Design of a Play for Adam Cork. In addition, Alfred Molina was nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway p ...

for his role as Mark Rothko. All in all, it received the most wins out of any other production that season. The play also won the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Outstanding Play while Grandage and Austin were honoured with Drama Desk Awards for their work. Molina, Cork and Oram were also similarly nominated.

Other productions

In October 2013, the play premiered in Chile at

Centro Mori The Centro Mori or Centro Cultural Mori (''Mori Cultural Center'') is a cultural project founded in Santiago, Chile by actors Gonzalo Valenzuela and Benjamín Vicuña, together with their partner Cristóbal Vial. The center is located in Barrio B ...

Bellavista theatre under the title ''Rojo'', starring Luis Gnecco and Martin Bacigalupo, directed by Rodrigo Sepúlveda and produced by The Cow Company. Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York, mounted a production of ''Red'' in October/November 2015, starring Stephen Caffrey as Mark Rothko and John Ford-Dunker as Ken. Directed by Skip Greer, the production featured scenic design by Robert Koharchik, costume design by Ann M. Emo, lighting design by Kendall Smith and sound design by Dan Roach. ''Red'' played in the Pit at the

New National Theatre Tokyo The is Japan's first and foremost national centre for the performing arts, including opera, ballet, contemporary dance and drama. It is located in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Since 1997 more than 650 productions were staged. There are about 300 pe ...

from August to October 2015, starring

Tetsushi Tanaka is a Japanese actor. Personal life Tanaka married actress Yukie Nakama on September 18, 2014, after a six-year relationship. Selected filmography Film *'' Get Up!'' (2003) *'' One Missed Call'' (2004) *'' Umizaru'' (2004) *'' 69'' (2004) *'' V ...

as Rothko and

Shun Oguri is a Japanese actor and voice actor, son of stage director Tetsuya Oguri, and the youngest of 3 siblings, including older brother Ryo, who is also an actor. He started in small roles as extra in the works in which his father and brother worked ...

as Ken, directed by Eriko Ogawa. In October 2016 the play opened at The Junction in Dubai before transferring to the JamJar. The production starred Osman Aboubakr as Rothko and Deepak Venugopal as Ken, with direction by

Alex Broun Alex Broun (born 16 March 1965) is an Australian playwright and screenwriter, who has worked extensively with Short and Sweet (festival), Short+Sweet, a series of theatre festivals for productions of ten minutes or less. Born in Sydney, Austral ...

. In July/August 2017, the play was mounted at the Cape Playhouse in

Dennis, Massachusetts Dennis is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, located near the center of Cape Cod. The population was 14,674 at the 2020 census. The town encompasses five distinct villages, each of which has its own post office. These cons ...

. Stephen Caffrey starred as Mark Rothko and Patrick Stafford as Ken, with direction by David Glenn Armstrong. The play was revived from May to July 2018 at the

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

in London's West End directed by Michael Grandage, with

Alfred Enoch Alfred Lewis Enoch (born 2 December 1988) is an English actor, best known for playing Dean Thomas in the ''Harry Potter'' film series and Wes Gibbins in the ABC legal thriller television series ''How to Get Away with Murder''. Early life an ...

as Ken, and Alfred Molina reprising his original role as Rothko. From this production, a film was made for Public Broadcasting Stations (PBS) in the US and aired November 15, 2019.

Works referenced in the play

The play references other works of art: * ''

The Birth of Tragedy ''The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music'' (german: Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik) is a 1872 work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as ''The Birth of Tragedy, Or ...

'' by

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

.Study Guide: ''Red''
Erin Schachter, Jessica Warnock, Brendon Allen, Kevin Parkin,

Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is a non-profit contemporary performance arts company based in Toronto, Ontario, ''Canada''. About Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is one of Canada's largest not-for-profit contemporary theatre companies, based in Toronto, Ontari ...

, 2011 File:Cappella cerasi, caravggio, conversione di saulo, 1601.JPG, "I go to the

Santa Maria del Popolo it, Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo , image = 20140803 Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo Rome 0191.jpg , caption = The church from Piazza del Popolo , coordinates = , image_size ...

to see

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

’s ’

Conversion of Saul The conversion of Paul the Apostle (also the Pauline conversion, Damascene conversion, Damascus Christophany and the "road to Damascus" event) was, according to the New Testament, an event in the life of Saul/ Paul the Apostle that led him to c ...

,’ which turns out is tucked away in a dark corner of this dark church with no natural light. It’s like a cave. But the painting glowed!". File:Atelier rouge matisse 1.jpg, ''

The Red Studio ''L'Atelier Rouge'', also known as ''The Red Studio,'' is a painting by Henri Matisse from 1911, in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York City. In 2004, ''L'Atelier Rouge'' came in at No. 5 in a poll of 500 art experts voting for ...

'' by Matisse File:Rembrandt - Belshazzar's Feast - WGA19123.jpg, ''Belshazzar's Feast (Rembrandt), Belshazzar's Feast'' by Rembrandt. File:Laurentian Library vestibule.jpg, The vestibule of the Laurentian Library by Michelangelo.

References

External links

* *Probst, Andy
"Review Roundup: ''Red'', with Alfred Molina, at Donmar Warehouse"
theatermania.com, December 10, 2009
Behind the Scenes: ''Red'', by John Logan
Background material prepared for Ensemble Theatre Company by Anna Jensen. {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Red'' , list = {{DramaDesk Play 2001–2025 {{TonyAwardBestPlay 2001-2025 2009 plays American plays Broadway plays Plays based on actual events Plays set in New York City Tony Award-winning plays Works based on art Mark Rothko Two-handers