Red
At the Playhouse until Feb. 4
Tickets: 604.873.3311
vancouverplayhouse.com
"What do you see?" barks painter Mark Rothko, directing his newly hired, (fictional) assistant Ken to one of his canvases. Ken's reply-"Red"-drives the artist into a fury because Rothko himself sees arterial blood, a Dresden firestorm at night, death and tragedy. Ken, a young, aspiring artist, sees apples, tomatoes, tulips and sunrise in the colour red.
At first, all we see on stage are two, floor-to-ceiling grey/white walls meeting like the prow of a ship bearing down on the audience. When drawn back, a cavernous, white, brick-walled studio is revealed; buckets of paint, brushes, rags, a garden chair, a record player and a lamp fill the room. But our eye is immediately drawn to several six by eight-foot reproductions of Rothko paintings in various shades of red.
In 1958, Rothko accepted what was thought to be the biggest commission since the Sistine Chapel to provide paintings for the upscale Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City's new Seagram's Building. To some, Rothko appeared to be selling out to commercialism; Rothko defended himself by saying, "I hope to ruin the appetite of every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room." It would be, according to him, "a place where the richest bastards in New York will come to feed and show off."
But Rothko's ego was at least six by eight feet. Moreover, paintings by the recently deceased Jackson Pollock-whose work Rothko dismissed-were selling for small fortunes. Andy Warhol was nipping at his heels. For Rothko, the commission was a way of establishing his reputation.
Directed by Siminovitch Award-winning director Kim Collier, Red is nothing short of splendid in every respect. Veteran Canadian actor Jim Mezon is burly, opinionated Rothko who, although denying the possibility, does become "shrink, friend, teacher, rabbi and father" to his young assistant. Mezon is a larger-than-life presence on stage; bearlike, he prowls the space. And yet, despite Rothko's self-centredness and arrogance, Mezon draws us sympathetically to his character's all-consuming passion for his art and the inevitable decline from the cutting edge. Red is not just about art; it's about whether art can change anything or whether it's only decoration after all. It's also about fading into irrelevance.
David Coomber, a 2010 graduate of Ryerson Theatre School, makes his Playhouse debut in John Logan's play. It's a challenging role because the character begins as keen, nave and more than a little overwhelmed by Rothko. By the end, of the play he goes toe-to-toe with Rothko and must hold his own for the play to work. Coomber does this with lan.
Coomber and Mezon are sublimely paired and by the falling curtain, the relationship between Rothko and Ken is extremely moving. It's more than mentor and protg or even father and son. It's something like love.
This is a star-studded show. David Boechler sets the scene in Rothko's studio and Alan Brodie lights it beautifully; Rothko hated natural light so Brodie's lighting is all interior. The white/grey panels that come and go throughout the play become canvasses for Brian Johnson's abstract projections that stream like waterfalls of red and black. Composer Andy Creeggan and sound coordinator Eric Meadows flood the theatre with the opera music that inspired Rothko as he painted. Collier's direction is deft, sensitive, creative, respectful-and enlarging-on Logan's thought-provoking script.
One highlight of this production-that received spontaneous applause on opening night-is the scene in which Rothko and Ken paint the base colour on a huge canvas. Exuberantly, the pair paint and leap, wielding huge brushes until the stretched canvas is filled with the colour of old blood. Breathing hard, they-for the first time-look like equals.
What do I think of when I see red? After this superb Playhouse production, I will see Rothko.
