Red at the Ensemble Theatre

An excellent show .. here's my Artshub review

http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/red-191747

Colin Moody and Stephen James King in RED. Photo by Natalie Boog.  

This Ensemble Theatre production of John Logan’s Red – a captivating play about art, life and success – is brilliantly performed by Colin Moody as the brooding Rothko, and Stephen James King as his younger assistant, Ken. Set in the 1950’s, in Rothko’s cluttered studio, you can literally smell the paint and turpentine that’s used in the show. Unpainted canvas and buckets of paint are everywhere, and prominent is a large blank canvas, waiting... At the beginning of the show Moody as Rothko is sprawled in a chair, staring at the audience. As the play unfolds, we increasingly see Rothko through his assistant’s eyes. Ken arrives for an interview to become Rothko’s assistant, a position which involves preparing canvases, stretching and priming them, and being a general dogsbody. From the outset, Ken’s role as Rothko’s assistant, and Rothko’s role as employer, is clearly defined: ‘I am not your rabbi, I am not your father, I am not your shrink, I am not your friend, I am not your teacher,' Rothko insists. Yet over the next two years of the play’s time frame, Rothko in some ways plays all those roles, and Ken learns how to deal with Rothko’s extremely unpredictable temper. Rothko is cold, dominating and assertive. He demands, snaps, lectures and bullies Ken. We learn about Rothko’s attitude towards his contemporaries and rivals, such as Jackson Pollock and Roy Lichtenstein. We learn of Rothko’s ideas on art and colour as inspired by great artists such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Goya and Matisse, and also how his Jewishness has shaped his perceptions. As Rothko, Moody is powerful, hypnotic, intense and electric. We also learn more about Ken, and how his parents were murdered in a pained, tragic monologue which King delivers excellently. Ken acts as a provocative sounding board for Rothko’s theories on life and art. One powerful scene between them features a great discussion about the ‘meaning’ and ‘emotion’ of colour – the various shades of red, black and white, for example .Why is black regarded as bad luck and linked to death? Another depicts the two exuberantly, almost choreographically, priming a huge canvas with a particular shade of red (Ken calls it ‘dried blood’). Red is all about looking; the artist’s ‘eye’, and the struggle to depict what is seen in the imagination on canvas. It also explores the struggle to live creatively, and raises questions about art and morality. Rothko is working on a major commission for the posh Four Seasons restaurant. Is he selling out and succumbing to commercialism, against all his principles, or revealing his soul? An enthralling play about the meaning of life and art and the search for truth. Rating: 4 stars out of 5 Red
By John Logan
Director: Mark Kilmurry
Assistant Director: Brian Meegan
Designer: Lucilla Smith
Lighting Designer: Nick Higgins
Wardrobe Coordinator: Lisa Mimmocchi
Dialect Coach: Natasha McNamara
With Colin Moody and Stephen James King
Running time: 90 mins (approx) no interval The Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli
September 6 – October 6