Red Is a Work of Art

By James E. Trainor III
Photo courtesy Fourth Room Theatre

L-R: Richard Glockner, Matthew James

Cedar Rapids - There's a small print of an old Rothko hanging near the circulation desk in the library at West High. Whenever I walk past it, I find myself trying to imagine what the students think of it. Do they feel drawn in, madly curious about who the man was and what he meant by this? Or do they merely give it a cursory glance while Facebook loads, and then go back to their phones? To me, the carefully arranged rectangles of color seem out of place, archaic, desperately alone, in need of perhaps a paragraph of text off to the side explaining, giving them context. I often feel this way with the Abstract Expressionists: I feel left out, like I missed the joke, like I'm not smart or sensitive enough to "get" it. It makes me wonder: are we losing something irreplaceable when a great master dies and his work begins to fade? Or are the next Rothkos wandering the halls of our high schools this very moment, thinking in movements and forms we can't even dream of?

In John Logan's Red, which deals with the death and birth of art movements, we have Rothko resurrected to explain his work to us. In Fourth Room's production, directed by Angie Toomsen, Rothko (Richard Glockner) sets his assistant Ken (Matthew James) center stage and explains to him how the paintings work. It's through James' character work that we see the effect of Rothko's paintings and his pontifications; Ken, bored and irritated at the onset, grows first tense, then excited, then chatty and enthusiastic as the master describes his masterpiece. Through Glockner's work we see that Rothko is equally excited; as he ages and watches the world outgrow him, he desperately needs someone to understand why art matters. This theme of the passing of the torch, and the push and pull of different generations, is very prevalent in Red, and some careful relationship work from Glockner and James makes it effective here.

Red Opens November 13

Waterloo/Cedar Rapids - Fourth Room Theatre, in collaboration with Waterloo Community Playhouse, Theatre UNI and UNI Department of Art, presents Red, John Logan’s Tony Award-winning drama about the legendary painter, Mark Rothko.

UNI Acting Professor Richard Glockner portrays Rothko
Matthew James is his assistant, Ken
Angie Toomsen directs with scenic design by Scott Olinger

Red an Intriguing Mix of Heady and Visceral

Jim Van Valen and Christopher Peltier

By James E. Trainor III
Photo By Bob Goodfellow

Iowa City - Upon walking into Riverside during its current production of John Logan's Red, one is first struck by how the stage looks like a working art studio (set design by Kevin Dudley). Strike that: it is a working art studio. During the course of the one-act play, the actors have a lot of stage business centered around painting: mixing paint, putting together canvases, priming, cleaning. I mention this because Red is a lofty play, full of big ideas, and it would be easy to get lost in the cerebral realm of talking about art. So much the better that the actors have this great set to play with, so they can get their hands dirty with the messy, gut-wrenching business of making art.

Red tells the story of the Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko (Jim Van Valen) and his young assistant Ken (Christopher Peltier). Rothko is at the height of his fame, but he is losing patience with the commercial art world; the action of the plot has him struggling to create a mural for the newly-build Four Seasons restaurant. Van Valen's Rothko is soulful and intriguing; he really transforms into this man who, though a giant in his own time, was more and more an artifact in the swiftly-changing New York of the late 1950's. Van Valen's passion and nuance as Rothko comes to realize his time has passed is part of what makes this piece so effective.

Red Opens April 19

3 Bros - Director Josh Beadle brings us the Iowa premiere of John Logan's Red this week. Logan's script won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2010. Three Brothers' production, a partnership with On-Location Players, takes place at the Cherry Building in Cedar Rapids and stars Coe professor Stephen Marc Weiss and Coe alum Brandon Palmer.

Red tells the story of painter Mark Rothko and his assistant Ken. It runs April 19 through April 22 in Room 318 of the Cherry Building, 329 10th Ave SE in Cedar Rapids. Tickets are $15 ($10 for seniors and students).