Director's Notes

Shades of RED

By Director Lou Jacob

I met Red's author, John Logan, in 1980 while studying together at Northwestern University. A breathtaking moment at school was the production of John's first play, Never the Sinner, in 1983, featuring a very young and extraordinary Denis O'Hare. It seemed almost impossible that such a mature and assured play could come from a 21-year-old. Never the Sinner is based on the infamous Leopold and Loeb murder case in Chicago and would begin John's fascination - and great talent - for making historical events and characters feel so very personal, alive and dangerous. As I prepare to direct Red, my experiences with John in those early years of our artistic development speak to me.

My entrance into this play began with some things I know about John. He is a great reader, researcher and student of history. I knew I could take Red as the product of immersion in the subject, and I could trust that anything in the play was directly inspired by John's study of abstract expressionist Mark Rothko.

John possesses an unusual talent for entering into historical characters and finding within them a vital, personal connection; Red is no exception. Having shared some incredible mentors with John (Twelve Angry Men director Frank Galati among them), I can't help but feel this as a play about the tense polarities that exist between young and old, employer and employee, master and apprentice, mentor and mentee, father and son.

Rothko warns his assistant Ken, "Consider; I am not your rabbi, I am not your father, I am not your shrink, I am not your friend, I am not your teacher - I am your employer. You understand?" Despite Rothko's blunt disclaimer, he becomes all of these. He later tells Ken, "The child must banish the father. Respect him, but kill him." The emotional and intimate violence of that statement drives an understanding of the combustible energy that existed within Rothko's studio. John has an art for making the past very much an expression of the present.

Although Red is a "two-hander," it can be seen as containing three characters; Rothko, Ken, and the paintings. Rothko speaks of them as if they are alive. We must, therefore treat them as breathing characters. Extensions of their father, the pictures beckon the observer to come closer. They entice, seduce, dare the viewer to step toward them until nothing else is seen in the periphery but the questioning aperture. "Rothkos," as his pictures are named, exist like windows, challenging the viewer to enter - while also acting as a lens, forcing the viewer to look inward. Through Rothko, John Logan has created an event that demands an active participant to speak, argue and question, What do you see?

Performances of Red run Feb. 14 - 26.