In the wings: ‘Red’ delves into complex hues of Rothko’s art and life
In 1958, the fiercely iconoclastic artist Mark Rothko accepted a commission to paint several murals for a posh new restaurant in New York City.
Rothko was more than a little conflicted about the assignment and its commercial and class implications — he famously said he hoped the murals would make diners lose their appetites.
“Red,” John Logan’s Tony Award-winning 2009 play, explores that episode, as well as the fraught relationship between Rothko and a (fictionalized) assistant named Ken.
Logan’s work — named for the color that dominates many of the artist’s canvases — received its area premiere at San Diego Rep in 2014.
Now Oceanside Theatre Co. puts up the provocative piece, and it should be in good hands: The director is Kevin Hafso-Koppman, an accomplished San Diego actor and alumnus of the esteemed Old Globe/University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program.
He directs Robert May as Rothko and Luke Monday as Ken in the show, which begins performances tomorrow.
‘Red’
When: Opens Friday. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through May 20.
Where: Oceanside Theatre Co. at the Brooks Theatre, 217 N. Coast Hwy., Oceanside.
Tickets: $15-$29.
Phone: (760) 433-8900
Online: oceansidetheatre.org
Twitter: @jimhebert
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