Review: Immersive ‘Red’ at Laguna Playhouse
- Anita W. Harris
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
What do artists talk about when they talk about art? That is the subject of John Logan’s play “Red,” assuredly directed by J. Scott Lapp at the Laguna Playhouse through June 28.
Specifically, middle-aged artist Mark Rothko (Rob Nagle) talks to his young assistant Ken (James Hayden Rodriguez) about art (mostly his own), philosophy, myth and the color red. The first half is somewhat didactic (though also droll, thanks to Nagle’s dry delivery), but the second half is more emotional (thanks to Rodriguez’s delivery), as Rothko’s vulnerabilities come through and his relationship with Ken reaches a meaningful conclusion.
The set of Rothko’s brick-walled New York studio (designed by Stephen Gifford) where the story plays out is so richly detailed it’s almost like a third character, featuring large painting reproductions, paint supplies, a sink with running water and even eggs that Rothko used to mix paint in real life. Classical music plays on a record player (with sound design by Ian Scot) as Rothko works, though Ken switches to jazz when alone.
In the 1950s, Rothko focused on his iconic "color field" paintings — large canvases featuring blocks of color made with layers of paint. In the play, Rothko works with red (and there are all kinds of red, as we learn from an amazing list he and Ken recite), but talks about fearing the day when black will take over.
Meanwhile, Ken is a budding artist who loves Jackson Pollock and the new pop-art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, all of whom Rothko dismisses as lacking in depth. After reading the Nietzche that Rothko recommends, Ken decides Rothko’s art is more Apollonian or logical and restrained compared to the more Dionysian or freewheeling Pollock.
Such is the nature of their conversations over the two years that Ken serves as his assistant, constructing Rothko’s large canvases and helping him prime them. But while Rothko fears black, Ken fears white — a color he associates with a childhood trauma revealed in the second half of the play and made believable mostly due to Rodriguez’s emotional immersion in his character.
In the second half, we also see Rothko’s vulnerabilities emerge as Ken challenges him, especially about a series of paintings Rothko was commissioned to create for a fancy new restaurant called The Four Seasons, which the artist justifies as being like a temple for his work while Ken calls out its commercialism.
But we see that the conflict is not just about selling out or not. Rothko reveals himself to be highly sensitive to noise and people, and feels attached to his paintings as if they are vulnerable children or extensions of himself that could be hurt out in the crass world. This side of him contrasts the gruff and high-minded persona he shows Ken in the first half of the play.
The play might be stronger, though, if that persona were initially more obnoxious. As it is, Rothko’s character is caught between being Mean Dad and Funny Dad, neither likeable nor unlikeable at first, so it’s hard to connect to him one way or other. Instead, we watch him mix and heat paint like spaghetti sauce and talk about the resonance of that paint on canvas, but we’re not sure how we feel about him — until later.
Overall, though, “Red” is a highly interesting and densely woven play that is a brilliant ode to Rothko, and also to art itself and humanity’s impulse to create. Laguna Playhouse’s rich production — with two talented and committed actors — brings the story to vibrant life, immersing us in red, with all its layers of meaning.
“Red” continues through June 28 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach, with shows Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Thursdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. For tickets, call the box office at 949-497-2787 or visit LagunaPlayhouse.com. Run time is 90 minutes with no intermission.