A review by daaave
Red by John Logan

4.0

Red is the story of an artist fighting against himself and against society. Rothko is an artist nearing the end of his generation's relevancy and he is fighting to find a place where he matters again. He creates murals but is obsessed with making sure that they are seen exactly the way he wants them seen. They must be seen in the proper light, the people who want to look at them and discuss them must have read the required texts, and they must see the "tragedy" in them. Rothko has been hired to create four murals to be hung up in an upper class restaurant. From the beginning he describes this particular process as a 9-5 job, just like the bankers. But he is incapable of just whipping out four simple murals. He can't create without meaning. His assistant Ken is the personification of his growing irrelevancy. Ken is a young artist with respect for the peers of his generation. They clash a number of times about a number of things and their clashes seem to symbolize the actual changeover from the old generation to the new. But Ken is also very similar to Rothko. He has his own personal tragedy that fuels his artistic exploration.

The title of the play is "Red" and its reference in the play is a moment where Rothko is furious at the oversimplification of Ken suggesting his painting needs "red." They then go on to state the different things that "red" is and symbolizes. It's a beautiful moment of free-flowing artistic interpretation and is possibly my favorite moment of the play.

I need a while to think more on this one as much of the meaning of the play is subtle and has more to do with the psyche of an artist than any simple plot line. But any play that can make me think this much is obviously doing something right.