Red Book

I had the opportunity of witnessing Red as a play acted out, and it was bloody spectacular!!! The acting was perfect and there was nothing I could find wrong about anything!

So I think it's safe to say that Red by John Logan is one of the most fascinating plays I've come across. It doesn't reach up to the standards of Shakespeare; rather the play creates its own standards to be judged with, because it's just that compelling.

A note to other people, this play is actually based on a real person: Mark Rothko, who was one of the most famous American abstract painters. Amazing, isn't it? That some of these events may have actually happened!

Red documents the progress of the relationship between two men and their realization that to achieve true artistry, an artist must first rid himself of visions of fame and fortune. The play is about Mark Rothko who hires Ken as an assistant to help him in completing the murals Rothko was commissioned to finish for the restaurant, The Four Seasons.

Featuring Mark Rothko as an opinionated, self-centred dedicated artist while portraying Ken as a youthful, aspiring painter, the play is placing a direct contrast between these two characters. Already, the tension is building up before Ken starts to inquire about Rothko's decision to paint for a restaurant, earning fame and fortune. Ken also goes so far as to imply that that decision itself does not make Rothko a 'true artist'.

Already there's this strain on the relationship between these two characters and they start lashing out at each other. Ken implying that Rothko's ideas were outdated. Rothko, by insinuating that Ken had it all easy from the start.

"When I was your age, art was a lonely thing: no galleries, no collecting, no critics, no money. We didn't have mentors. We didn't have parents. We were alone. But it was a great time, because we had nothing to lose and a vision to gain."

The concepts and themes discussed within the play were very interesting to learn about, some of which include: art (obviously!), psychological trauma, self-expression, tragedy, self-awareness, ego, the relationship between the master and the protege and lastly, fame and fortune vs. true artistry. John Logan explained each one of the concepts carefully to me through the play and it was so subtle that I didn't even realize I was being slightly educated.

Very impressive, *claps*