Red; a play about some red paintings

Red by John Logan
Directed by Oliver Driver
Auckland Theatre Company
Maidment Theatre
Until June 25th

With some artists it’s often difficult to know whether they are talking to their audience or just talking to themselves. Are they philosophers, storytellers or slightly deranged, self obsessed charlatans.

The thousands of books which get written about artists try to answer those sorts of questions, trying to find out what are the connections between the art and the artist.

They are also the question at the centre of “Red” which could equally have been titled “Art” but Yasmina Reza has already nabbed that name.

The play is set over two years in the late 1950’s in the studio of Mark Rothko as he works on a group of paintings, some of which will eventually end up in their own room at the Tate Modern in London.

The play centres around the conversations that Rothko has with his studio assistant Ken, as he works on the series of huge red canvasses.

Rothko uses Ken as a sounding board to explore ideas about art, life, philosophy, art history and the contemporary art scene.

Rothko believed that his abstract expressionist method of working and the finished works were something close to spiritual experiences. He despised people who wanted “fancy paintings” and rejected the new wave of artists such as Andy Warhol.

Michael Hurst is remarkable as the obsessive, critical and peevish artist who wants to make significant art. He exudes a nervous energy as well as a quirky and serious mind which is reflected in the intensity of the large red art works which dominate the stage.

Elliot Christensen-Yule is a perfect foil to Hurst as his own motivations and thoughts about art are drawn out and there is another level of enquiry into what makes artist and art.

The play which centres on art is also about personal relationships and how individuals learn as much about themselves from others as they do from contemplating their own lives. The two actors manage to engage superbly in the rich dialogue of intertwined heated discussions and convoluted digressions.

The vast set of the artist’s studio is a triumph of design for John Parker which is dramatically lit by Brad Gledhill.

The use of music, probabaly collaboration between director Oliver Driver and sound designer Claire Cowan is exceptional in creating an emotional context for the paintings.

The play is a fine mix of drama spiced with comic moments as well as serious discussion of aesthetics tinged with artistic hubris.