The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, in co-production with Canadian Stage and The Citadel Theatre, present John Logan’s Tony Award-winning play, Red. This stark and passionate production explores the life and work of celebrated Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko as he struggles to create a masterpiece in the face of fame, fortune and commercialism.
This was a wonderful production about life, of course it was also about painting and being focussed on a painting career. It was a well-acted production that featured Jim Mezon who played Mark Rothko. Set in his studio in the late 1950s, the play is a fictionalized account of one of Rothko’s historic artistic commissions: to create a series of murals for the new Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building in New York City. As he paints, Rothko begins to question the project he’s committed to and his role as an artist. When he sees that his great commission will reduce his paintings to being merely decorative rather than transformative, he confronts this new truth through a visceral and passionate debate of ideas, art and relevance. Actor David Coomber played Ken and aspiring painter who became Rothko’s assistant. This pairing between an experienced actor and an emerging performer echoes the master-apprentice relationship between their respective characters and brings an added layer of depth to the performance.
Red will be on stage at the Vancouver Playhouse to February 4, 2012
For tickets Call 604 873 3311 or book ONLINE vancouverplayhouse.com
